410 [Assembly 



THE MAPLE, (acer.) 



This tree is justly held in very high estimation, particularly the 

 bird's-eye which resembles a peacock's tail, and is extremely pret- 

 ty. It is only the tops of old trees that take on these beautiful 

 undulations, consequently the hard maple and the bird's-eye are 

 synonymon-*; tliey are produced from seeds, which must be bur- 

 ied one year before they grow, in a dry rich upland soil. It may 

 likewise grown by suckers and layers. 



The timber is preferred by the turner to beech ; he fashions it 

 into cups, dishes, trays, tables, and the joiner into punel work, 

 doors, musical instruments, &c. The grain in fineness of texture 

 may almost compare with the cedar. Cicero paid for a table 

 made of maple six hundred dollars; King Juba nine hundred; 

 another in those days was valued at eight thousand four hundred 

 dollars, and still another at its weight in gold. This last was four 

 and a half feet in diameter, and three inches thick. For polish- 

 ing this wood, a man's hand directly from the bath is belter than 

 any cloth. 



The undulations of the curled or bird's-eye mai)le is probably 

 caused by the ascent and descent of sap, being diverted by the nu- 

 merous brandies projecting from the trunk : There are nine vari- 

 eties, viz : the mountain maple (acer montanum), box elder (acer 

 negundo), sugar maple (acer saccharinum), black sugar maple 

 (acer nigrum), Norway maple (acer platanoidea), sycamore (acer 

 psuedo-platanus), moose wood (acer striatum), white maple (acer 

 eriocarpum), red flowering maple (acer rubrum). 



THE BLACK WALNUT (juglans), 



Is a magnificent tree when it arrives at maturity. It grows 

 best in a dry rich loam, in a protected situation. It may be grown 

 in open prairie or pasture fields, at sixty or seventy feet apart, as 

 it is not suj)posed capable of injuring the crop, Avhich appears to 

 grow better under it. The roots spread themselves out beyond 

 the reach of the plough. In Germany this tree is considered so 

 valuable that if one dies, or is cut down, another is immediately 

 planted in its i)lace. No young German farmer is permitted by 



