"'Do not listen to that vain tree," seemed 

 to come in majestic tones from a lordly 

 Maple close by. ''If you will listen to 

 me I will tell you, that although we 

 grow so numerously in this fair coun- 

 try, yet only nine branches of our fam- 

 ily are found here, while in China and 

 that little sea-girt kingdom of Japan, 

 whose shores are washed by the waves 

 of the mighty Pacific, thirty members of 

 our family are found and we constitute 

 fully one-third of their forests. 



''What the bread tree is to India and 

 Ceylon, the milk tree to South America, 

 that we are to North America, for 

 Maiden, I am a Sugar Maple," and he 

 shook all his leaves of crimson and 

 gold. 



"A Sugar Maple," said Mabel. "Far- 

 ther back in these woods there used to 

 be a shanty where we children would 

 watch them make sugar. There were 

 huge kettles hung on a stout pole which 

 was laid in the crotch of two posts set 

 in the ground. John told us that the 

 fire was never permitted to go out day 

 or night, for the sap must be kept slow- 

 ly boiling. As the sap thickened in one 

 kettle he would take a long-handled 

 ladle and dip it into the next kettle, and 

 so on until it reached the 'end-kettle'; 

 when this syrup began to crystallize 

 then our fun commenced. ' How pretty 

 the syrup looked as it was poured out 

 on the clean white snow where it speed- 

 ily became wax ! We all had large, new 

 chips on which we were given our wax. 

 How good it tasted !" 



Mabel leaned against the tree and let 

 her mind wander back to a night when 

 she and another coaxed John to let them 

 stay quite late and go home with him on 

 the bobs. How well she remembered 

 the sound of the wind in the tree-tops ; 

 the ruddy glare of the fire ; the beauti- 

 ful sight which the sparks presented as 

 they flew upward ; the long ride home 

 in the sleigh with the stars shining so 

 bright and clear. How wildly pictur- 

 esque it was ! 



"In some parts of Vermont," seemed 

 to come from the tree, "New York 

 State and Pennsylvania, we are a great 

 source of income. The industry has 

 grown to such an extent that the annual 

 yield is about 100,000 lbs. An average 



tree of the Sugar Maple variety pro- 

 duces from four to eight pounds yearly. 

 Our wood, too, is more valuable than 

 that of the other members of our fam- 

 ily, being reddish-brown in color and 

 capable of taking a very high polish. 

 When we are used as fuel our ashes 

 are of great commercial value, owing 

 to the vast amount of potash which they 

 contain." 



"Are there legends in connection with 

 your family. Sugar Maple?" 



"Well, not exactly, though one of 

 our members, the Sycamore Maple, has 

 a very peculiar and fascinating history. 



"A certain legend says that when 

 Joseph and Mary, with the infant Jesus 

 fled into Egypt they rested under a 

 sycamore tree. Now in the twelfth and 

 thirteenth centuries miracle plays were 

 produced in all the churches of Europe 

 for the instruction of the people; one 

 of the favorite scenes was the flight into 

 Egypt, as it was so easily put upon the 

 stage. They must of course have a 

 sycamore tree, but no trees of that name 

 grew in those countries where the plays 

 were acted. Now this certain maple 

 was chosen to take its place because its 

 leaves greatly resembled those of the 

 true sycamore, and naturally the people 

 began to call it by that name and such 

 it has remained to this day. 



"The bark of the Sycamore Maple 

 resembles that of the beech more than 

 any other tree, but while the bark of 

 the beech is always smooth, this is 

 smooth only when young. As the tree 

 grows older the bark breaks up, is 

 scaly, and can easily be peeled off. 

 Then, too, the bark of the beech is a 

 soft, greenish-gray, while that of the 

 bycamore is much prettier, being 

 brighter and yellower and marked with 

 black. Although not as beautiful as 

 many other trees, the Sycamore Maple 

 can always be depended upon to grow 

 erect and spread its broad branches on 

 all sides, never growing away from the 

 prevailing winds and losing its shape as 

 some trees do. Erect it stands and 

 throws its shade equally on all sides, no 

 matter how fierce the tempests, how 

 strong the winds, it bravely conquers 

 circumstances." 



208 



II 



