342 



TREES OF MINNESOTA. 



Distribution. It is found in the north from the valley of the 

 St. John river in New Brunswick to southern Ontario. It ex- 

 tends southward through the United States to western Florida 

 and west to eastern Dakota and Nebraska. It is adapted to a 

 wide variety of soils, and is especially abundant along rivers, 

 often growing luxuriantly on sand bars and land that is in- 

 undated by spring freshets. A very common tree in southern 

 and central Minnesota and north along the Mississippi valley. 



Propagation. By seeds, 

 which drop off in early 

 summer, and where they 

 fall on moist soil they soon 

 grow. They are very deli- 

 cate, however, and cannot 

 be kept in good condition 

 many weeks after they are 

 ripe. If sown at once in 

 good moist soil they will 

 often produce plants two 

 feet or more high the first 

 season, and the growth is 

 also very rapid in subse- 

 quent years. The ornamen- 

 tal varieties are propagated 

 by grafting or budding on 

 the seedlings, and occasion- 

 ally by layering. 



Properties of wood. 

 Light, hard (though not 

 nearly so hard as Sugar 

 Maple), rather brittle and 



easily worked. It is pale, 

 Figure 61. Leaf of Wier's Cutleaf 

 Maple one-half natural size. faintly tinged With brown. 



The sapwood is light colored and thick. Specific gravity 0.5269; 

 weight of a cubic foot 32.84 pounds. 



Uses. The Silver Maple is exceedingly hardy and of very rapid 

 growth, but suffers from a deficiency of moisture in the soil. 

 It makes a very good street and lawn tree on retentive land, 

 and is adapted to a wide variety of soils. The limbs are brittle, 

 and the crotches of the tree are weak and likely to break in 



