LUTHER BURBANK 
might do far worse than to set a row of maples, as 
ornamental trees about the borders of his orchard 
or gardens, regarding the capacity of the tree to 
produce a certain amount of sugar as an incidental 
attraction that adds to the value of a tree that 
otherwise is deserving because of its beauty of 
form and general attractiveness. 
The production of the sweet sap that has made 
the sugar maple famous gives this particular 
species exceptional interest among the members 
of a very meritorious family. Just why this 
species should have developed the capacity to 
produce so sugary a sap in such abundance, it 
would perhaps be difficult to say. A certain amount 
of sap may be drawn from the tissues of other 
maples, and even from the walnut and butternut, 
and in diluted form from the birches; but only the 
sugar maple produces sap of such quality as to be 
of real value. 
WHEN THE Sap Runs BEstT 
And of course it is well known that the sugar 
maple itself has a “flow” of sap that is worth tap- 
ping, for a very brief period each season, just as 
winter is merging into spring. It is traditional at 
least among the makers of maple sugar that the 
sap runs best in those days of early spring when 
the sun shines brightly while there is a coverlet of 
snow on the ground. At this time, all that is neces- 
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