THE MAPLE. 347 
The Sugar Maple—A. saccharinum (L.)—This tree forms 
extensive native forests in North America, throughout Canada, 
New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. The tree has been known 
in Britain for upwards of 100 years, where it seldom attains 
a height beyond forty feet. In its native districts it fre- 
quently reaches the height of from sixty to seventy feet ; but 
the diameter of its trunk is commonly small, generally rang- 
ing from twelve to eighteen inches. In appearance the tree 
1s very ornamental ; it resembles the Norway maple, but its 
leaves are more glaucous, or white, underneath, and in 
autumn they assume a rosy tint, which adds richness to the 
variety of foliage peculiar to that season. In Britain the tree 
is propagated from imported seeds, which are treated like 
those of the sycamore, but asthe sugar maple is more tender, 
it requires a dry and sheltered situation. 
In its native country, during the opening of the season, the 
tree, when pierced, yields a copious flow of sap, which is 
readily converted into sugar. The flow of sap is said to be 
more abundant during a hot sunshine which has been pre- 
ceded by a frosty night, and particularly if the surface of 
the ground is covered with snow. The sap richest in sac- 
charine matter is that extracted from trees which occupy 
isolated situations, or are somewhat detached from the density 
of the forest, where they enjoy the full influence of sunshine 
and air. 
In Britain, sugar has been extracted from this and several 
other species of the maple ; but it is not believed that in this 
country it can be cultivated profitably. Numerous samples 
of maple sugar were produced at the Great Exhibition of 
1851, and several prizes were awarded for this article; but 
valuable as it is to the settlers in a district where the tree is 
indigenous, it is not expected that, as an article of commerce, 
it will extend far beyond the locality in which it is manu- 
factured. 
The wood of this maple is esteemed in cabinet-making ; it 
assumes a rosy tinge, takes a fine polish, and has a silken 
lustre, but it is not durable if exposed to moisture. In old 
