74 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 



the molasses is better than that which comes 

 from the West Indies." 



" Uncle Philip, why do not people use more 

 maple sugar than they do? It is a great 

 deal nicer than brown sugar." 



" Yes, but everybody does not think so. 

 However, there is a great deal used, much 

 more than you have any idea of. I have 

 heard it said, that about ten millions of pounds 

 are consumed in the United States every 

 year. There is not a great deal of it made 

 near the large cities, because most of the lands 

 are cleared, and employed in the cultivation 

 of grain, and vegetables, and fruits ; but in the 

 Western States, where maples are plenty, and 

 the common brown sugar is scarce, the people 

 use great quantities of the maple sugar. 



" There is another kind, called the black- 

 sugar maple, that grows very plentifully in 

 some parts of the Western States ; but the 

 only differences between it and the sugar 

 maple are in the colour of the leaves, which 

 are darker, and in the wood, which is coarser 

 grained, and not so brilliant and beautiful 

 when it is polished." 



" Uncle Philip, are there any more kinds 

 of maple ?" 



