TREES OF AMERICA. 69 



that it is a tall, slender, and beautiful tree, 

 commonly growing about fifty feet high, and a 

 foot or a foot and a half thick, and remarkable 

 for its very white bark. The leaves are bright 

 green on the upper side, and silvery white 

 below ; but they turn red with the first frost, 

 and thus add very much to the beauty and 

 brilliancy of our forests in autumn." 



" I suppose the wood is not much used ; 

 people would rather save the trees, for the sake 

 of the su^ar." 



o 



" But you are wrong, my dear : it is one of 

 the peculiarities of this tree, that the wood is 

 equally valuable with the sap, and the num- 

 ber of trees has been wonderfully reduced in 

 consequence ; but there are thousands and 

 tens of thousands left yet, and farmers are 

 getting to be more careful about them : so I 

 suspect there will never be any great scar- 

 city." 



" And what is the wood good for, Uncle 

 Philip ?" 



" For the same uses that the other maples 

 are good for : some of the trees have the wavy 

 and beautiful grain that gives it the name of 

 the curled maple ; and others have spots that 

 give the wood a still more lovely appearance ; 



