2i ^torp of ^ome 



THIS is not a botanical disquisition ; it is not 

 a complete account of all the members of 

 the important tree family of maples. I am 

 not a botanist, nor a true scientific observer, but 

 only a plain tree -lover, and I have been watch- 

 ing some trees bloom and bud and grow and 

 fruit for a few years, using a camera now and 

 then to record what I see — and much more 

 than I see, usually ! 



In the sweet springtime, when the rising of 

 the sap incites some to poetry, some to making 

 maple sugar, and some to watching for the first 

 flowers, it is well to look at a few tree -blooms, 

 and to consider the possibilities and the pleas- 

 ures of a peaceful hunt that can be made 

 with profit in city street or park, as well as 

 along country roadsides and in the meadows 

 and the woods. 



Who does not know of the maples that are 



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