I 



OF FOREST-TREES. 185 



in the foUiacles and keys, or birds'-tongues (as they are called) like the xir 

 Ash (after a year's interment) and, like to it, affect a sound and a dry ^»^V^ 

 mould, growing both in woods and hedge-rows, especially in the latter ; 

 which, if rather hilly than low, affords the fairest timber. It is also 

 propagated by layers and suckers. By shredding up the boughs to 

 a head, I have caused it to shoot to a wonderful height in a little time. 



not be neglected. — The Norway Maple is reckoned among our best trees for sheltering 

 habitations. 



« 



5. ACER (ftVBRVMj foliis quinquelobis subdentatis subtus glaucis, pedunculis simplicissi- 

 mis aggregatis. Lin. Sp. Plant. 14-96. Acer Virginianum folio majore, subtus argenteo 

 supra viridi splendente. Pluk. Aim. The scarlet-flowering maple. 



Of this species of Maple there is a variety called Sir Charles Wager's Maple. Both of these 

 are propagated for the sake of the flowers, which are of a scarlet colour, and come out early 

 in the spring. The leaves are composed of five sharp-pointed lobes, which are slightly in- 

 dented or serrated ; they are smooth, of a pale green on their upper surface, and white under- 

 neath: they grow on long, simple, taper, reddish foot-sta'ks. The flowers come out in 

 clusters from the side of the branches. They appear in April, and tlie seeds ripen in June. 

 The sort called Sir Charles Wager's, produces larger clusters of flowers than the other ; on 

 which account it is in most esteem. The red Maple grows plentifully in Pennsylvania, and 

 delights in swampy situations, in which the Aider is commonly its companion. Of this wood 

 the natives make plates, spinning-wheels, beds, and almost all sorts of wood-work. With 

 the bark they dye worsted and linen of a dark blue colour: for which purpose it is first 

 boiled in water, and some copperas, such as the hat-makers commonly make use of, is added, 

 before the stuff is put into the boiler. The bark also makes a good black ink. There is a 

 variety of this tree which they call the curled maple, the wood being marbled within; it 

 is much used for ail kinds of joiner's work, and the utensils made of It are esteemed better 

 than those of any other wood. This kind is not very frequent, and it is observed by the 

 natives> that the outsides of curled Maples are often marbled, while their insides are not ; the 

 tree is therefore cut very deep before it is felled, to see whether it has veins in every part. 



5. ACER Csacch-arihum) foliis quinquepartito-palmatis acuminato-dentatis. Lin. Sp. 

 Plant. 1496. The sugar maple. 



This tree has some resemblance to the Norway Maple when the plants are young; but as they 

 grow up, the leaves are more deeply divided, and their surfaces less smooth, so that they are 

 then easily distinguished. From this tree the inhabitants of North America make a very 

 good sort of sugar, by tapping the trees early in the spring, and boiling the juice, which, by 

 the usual process, is converted into sugar. Dr. Benjamin Rush, Professor of the Institutes of 

 Medicine in the University of Pennsylvania, has given us a most circumstantial and correct 

 account of the manner of obtaining sugar from this species of Maple. He says, "The 

 Acer Saccharinum of Linnaus, or the Sugar Maple-tree, grows in great quantities in the 

 Western counties of all the middle States of the American Union. Those which grow in 

 New-York and Pennsylvania yield the sugar in a greater quantity than those which grow on 

 Volume I. JJ Jl 



