40 BULLETIN 12, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



concerned the matter is not important, for a very small per cent of 

 the maple lumber on the market is from tapped trees. AVagon axles 

 of sugar maple are considered by some as good as any. The heaviest 

 two- wheel log trucks used in Michigan have axles of this wood 8 

 inches square, with wheels 10 feet high. Such an axle sometimes 

 carries 20,000 pounds oyer rough log roads. Maple is employed 

 for wagon beds, though its weight is against it, as frames for 

 buggies, dashboards for carriages and light business wagons, and 

 its use for buggy shafts has been reported in Kentucky. It is widely 

 employed in the manufacture of small vehicles, as baby buggies, go- 

 carts, and children's wagons. It is good sled material and is one of 

 the common woods in cutter and light-sleigh manufacture, entering 

 into practically all parts of the vehicles, but is particularly liked for 

 the soles of h^avy sleds. Its hardness a,nd smoothness insure easy 

 running and long service. Sugar maple is recommended for handles 

 and other parts of gocarls" and for baby carriages which are to be 

 finished in white enamel. The wheelbarrow manufacturer, in certain 

 localities, employs scarcely any other wood, while in other places the 

 handles are of sugar maple and the body of white elm or some other 

 tough wood. 



Car builders make use of maple for many purposes and in cars of 

 many kinds. Its white color gives it a value as finish for the interiors 

 of electric cars, and occasionally for steam coaches and Pullmans. 

 Service of a different kind is found for it in log cars, where it goes 

 into frames and bunkers. Platforms of push cars and trucks em- 

 ployed about factories and railroad stations are frequently of sugar 

 maple, as are the frames of railroad velocipedes. 



An important demand comes from manufacturers of bicycle rims, 

 and this rather small commodity requires several million feet annually 

 of select maple. 



The rapid rise to importance of automobile manufacture has created 

 a new demand for sugar maple, largely for benches, bottoms, subfloors, 

 and frames. 



HANDLES. 



As a handle wood sugar maple is not in the same class with hickory. 

 The la-tter is demanded more for its toughness and resiliency than for 

 its strength, though the latter quality is duly considered. Maple is 

 not tough or very resilient, but it is nearly as strong as hickory. Its 

 important position as a handle wood is due chiefly to its hardness, 

 smoothness, strength, color, and cheapness. It is not well suited for 

 ax handles or slender hammer handles, because sudden jars are likely 

 to snap it; but for stiff handles, not subject to much bending, it is 

 one of the best available woods. It is not known how much of it is 

 made into handles, but the total is probably not much below the 



