66 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 



nothing. And what do they do with the red 

 maple wood ?" 



" It is mostly employed in cabinet-making ; 

 it is pretty hard, has a fine grain, and takes a 

 high polish : you know that a great deal of 

 this wood is used in the manufacture of chairs 

 and bedsteads." 



"Ah, is this the curled maple, then, Uncle 

 Philip ?" 



" Yes, it is the kind of maple that some- 

 times has the beautiful waving grain that is 

 so much admired ; for you must know that 

 it is not found in all the trees, and indeed the 

 proportion of waving-grained trees to the 

 others is very small ; not more than one in 

 a hundred." 



"What makes it, Uncle Philip, do you 

 know ?" 



^ God makes it, my child, as well as every 

 thing else in the world ; but how the effect is 

 produced, and for what purpose, unless it is 

 merely to please our eyes, are secrets that 

 have not been found out as yet." 



" The trees that make the curled maple 

 are more valuable, then, than the others, are 

 they not ?" 



Yes, much more so ; and therefore, as 



