18 ACERACE^E.' 



Germany is very extensively used, for out-of-door as well 

 as in-door purposes. The roots of such trees as have 

 been cut over and afterwards kept as stoves or stocks 

 for coppice wood, are eagerly sought after by the cabinet- 

 makers, being frequently beautifully and curiously veined, 

 and affording a valuable material for inlaying, and other 

 delicate cabinet work. According to M. Hartig, an emi- 

 nent German dendrologist, the wood of the Sycamore 

 surpasses that of all other trees as a fuel, being unequalled 

 for the quantity of heat it throws out, and the time it con- 

 tinues to burn. The charcoal also made from it is of 

 excellent quality, and surpasses that of the beech in the 

 proportion of 1647 to 1600. 



Like most of the maples, the sap of the Sycamore flows 

 freely from an incision made in the tree in the late winter 

 and early spring months ; this, upon evaporation by heat, 

 yields a proportion of sugar, varying, as might be expected, 

 in quantity according to the circumstances under which the 

 sap is collected, being affected by the age and vigour of the 

 tree, the temperature of the season, quality of soil, &c. In 

 an experiment mentioned by Sir T. Dick Lauder, one hun- 

 dred and sixteen parts of sap yielded one part of sugar, very 

 sweet, but with a peculiar flavour. The sap is also some- 

 times made into a wine in the same way as that drawn 

 from the birch, but it wants the delicate aromatic flavour 

 of the latter. In consequence of the very early and rapid 

 rise of the sap in the Sycamore, no attempt to prune it 

 should be made between the months of January and May, 

 and we would recommend, when the knife does seem neces- 

 sary, as when a second or double leader interferes with 

 its growth and the symmetry of its form, that it should 

 not be used till after the leaves are fully expanded, as it 

 will then bleed no more, but the elaborated sap will 



