OF FOREST-TREES. 



187 



for all uses of the turner, who seeks it for dishes^ cups, trays, trenchers, CH. XII. 

 &c. as the joiner for tables, inlayings, and for the delicateness of the 

 grain, when the knurs and nodosities are rarely diapered, which does 

 much advance its price : Our turners will work it so thin, that it is 

 almost transparent. It is commended for its lightness, under the name 



1789, from a single tree that had been tapped forseveral successive years before. From the in- 

 fluence which culture has upon forest and other trees, it has been supposed, that by trans- 

 planting the Sugar Maple-tree into a garden, or by destro) ing such other trees as shelter it 

 from the rays of the sun, the quantity of the sap might be increased, and its quality much 

 improved. I have heard of one fact which favours this opinion. A farmer in Northampton 

 county, in the State of Pennsylvania, planted a number of these trees above twenty years 

 ago in his meadow, from three gallons of the sap of which he obtains every year a pound of 

 sugar. It was observed formerly, that it required Jive or six gallons of the sap of the trees 

 which grow in the woods to produce the same quantity of sugar. The sap distils from the 

 tuood of the tree. Trees which have been cut down in the winter for the support of the 

 domestic animals of the new settlers, yield a considerable quantity of sap as soon as their 

 trunks and limbs feel the rays of the sun in the spring of the year. It is in consequence of 

 the sap of these trees being equally diffused through every part of them, that they live three 

 years after they are girdled; that is, after a circular incision is made through the bark into the 

 substance of the tree for the purpose of destroying it. it is remarkable that grass thrives 

 better under this tree in a meadow, than in situations exposed to the constant action of the 

 sun. The season for tapping the trees is in February, March, and April, according to the 

 weather which occurs in these months. Warm days and frosty nights are most favourable 

 to a plentiful discharge of the sap *. The quantity obtained in a day from a tree, is from 

 five gallons to a pint, according to the greater or less heat of the air. Mr. Lowe informed 

 Arthur Noble, Esq. that he obtained near three and twenty gallons of sap in one day, 

 (April 14, 1789,) from the single tree which was before mentioned. Such instances of a pro- 

 fusion of sap in single trees are however not very common. There is always a suspension 

 of the discharge of sap in the night, if a frost succeed a warm day. The perforation in the 

 tree is made with an axe or an auger. The latter is preferred, from experience of its advan- 

 tages. The auger is introduced about three quarters of an inch, and in an ascending direc- 

 tion, (that the sap may not be frozen in a slow current in the mornings or evenings,) and is 

 afterwards deepened gradually to the extent of two inches. A spout is introduced about 

 half an inch into the hole made by this auger, and projects from three to twelve inches 

 from the tree. The spout is generally made of the Sumach, Rhus, or Elder, Sambucus Cana- 

 densis, which generally grows in the neighbourhood of the sugar-trees. The tree is first 

 tapped on the Jou//t-side ; when the discharge of its sap begins to lessen, an opening is made 



• The influence of the weather in increasing and lessening the discharge of the sap from trees is very 

 remarkable. 



Dr. Tonge supposed long ago, (Philosophical Transactions, No. 68,) that changes in the weather of every 

 kind might be better ascertained by the discharge of sap from trees than by weather-glasses. I have seen a 

 journal of the effects of heat, cold, moisture, drought, and thunder. Upon the discharges from the sugar-trees ; 

 which disposes me to believe that there is some foundation for Dr. Tonge's opinion. 



Hha 



