516 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



it may be stated that the average sugar content of the sap is about 

 3 per cent. Assuming that the theoretical yield of alcohol could be 

 obtained from this, it would amount to 1^4 grams alcohol or a solu- 

 tion containing i~y 2 grams alcohol in 100 cc. 



" However, it is not believed that alcohol would be produced from 

 maple sap under ordinary conditions. Very little of the sap that 

 may run down the side of the tree collects in the interstices of the 

 bark, as it dries up rather quickly, and while the sap on the surface 

 of the tree may become slightly ' sour ' late in the season, it is 

 thought that it would dry up before alcoholic fermentation could 

 take place. It should be noted that early in the season it is usually 

 too cold for fermentation to take place and late in the season the air 

 is warm enough to dry up the sap very quickly. 



" The term ' sour ' used above serves to indicate a peculiar condi- 

 tion of the sap that is caused by the growth of micro-organisms and 

 should be differentiated from the alcoholic fermentation that may 

 occur through the decomposition of sucrose, and subsequent change 

 of the invert sugar formed to alcohol, when a quantity of the sap 

 is kept for some time at a warm temperature." 



At Syracuse in April, 1917, Sapsuckers were very active on sev- 

 eral kinds of trees. On the trunk of an ironwood {Ostrya virgln- 

 iana) a pink slime was found growing on the tree where the sap 

 flowed. This Dr. L. H. Pennington kindly examined and reported 

 to be "Principally Fusarium sp., probably F. Zeae (West) 

 Sacc," and "some wild yeast (Saccharomyces sp.) and Bacteria." 

 He adds : " My observations lead me to think that this or a similar 

 slime-flux Fusarium has a perfect stage belonging to the genus 

 Nectria." The plants and animals that live upon exuding sap of 

 trees would make a special problem worthy of detailed investiga- 

 tion as a biochemical and ecological problem. 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 



In concluding this discussion of the Sapsucker it is evident that 

 this is a woodpecker which is capable of exerting considerable in- 

 fluence upon trees and forests. As the most abundant woodpecker 

 in the Adirondacks it deserves careful study and a fair trial before 

 condemnation. It habitually injures or kills a large number of trees, 

 including some of slight and others of much economic value. The 

 destruction of some young aspens and birches only amounts to a 

 slight thinning, and may be beneficial to more valuable young trees 

 growing under them, but the killing and injury to older trees is 

 generally harmful. The large diet of wild fruit makes it capable of 

 materially aiding the reforestation of wild burned lands, and in 

 making conditions on such lands more favorable for deer, — as in 

 the case of other fruit-eating birds. It thus also aids in the con- 

 servation of soil and water. That it eats relatively few of the fruits 

 of poisonous plants is also favorable. In a managed forest it would 

 plant " weed " trees, but this is not much of a present-day problem. 

 Of course, other birds do the same kind of work, and for this 



