414 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



FART III. 



brilliant clay, the sap flows abundantly ; and two or three gallons of sap 

 are sometimes yielded by a single tree in twenty-four hours. The yearly 

 product varies from 2 lb. to 4 lb. of sugar each tree. Trees which grow in 

 low and moist places airord a greater quantity of sap than those which oc- 

 cupy rising grounds; but it is less rich in the saccharine principle. That of 

 insulated trees, left standing in the middle of fields, or by the side of fences, 

 is the best. It is also remarked, that, in districts which have been cleared 

 of other trees, and even of the less vigorous sugar maples, the product of the 

 remainder is proportionably greater. 



Wild and domestic animals are inordinately fond of maple juice, and break 

 through their enclosures to sate themselves with it. {Michaux, p. 286.) 

 In Europe, it is not likely that the extraction of sugar from any species of 

 maple will ever be tried otherwise than as a matter of curiosity. Count 

 Wingersky is said to have planted a great many trees of A. saccharinum on 

 his estates in Moravia, and to have drawn off the sap from them at the age 

 of 23 years, in order to make sugar. He succeeded in procuring a very good 

 sugar; but, in consequence of drawing sap from the trees every year, they 

 became sickly, and soon afterwards died. 



Soil and Situation, ProiJagation, S^-c. The same soil may be reconnnended 

 as for A. j'jlatanoides ; but, as the species is considerably more tender, it 

 requires a more sheltered situation. In British nurseries, it is always raised 

 from American seeds. 



statistics. The largest tree in the neighbourhood of London is at Purser's Cross, where it has at- 

 tained the height of 45 ft. In Berkshire, at High Clere, 6 years planted, it is 24 ft. high ; at White 

 Knights, 25 years planted, 21 ft. high ; in Herefordshire, at Eastaor Castle, 14 years planted, 30 ft. 

 high ; in Cumberland, at Ponsonby Hall, 20 years planted, and 24 ft. high ; in Cheshire, at Kinmel 

 Park, 20 years planted, and 24 ft. iVigh ; in Staflfbrdshire, at Trentham, £6 years planted, and 35 ft. 

 liigh ; in Yorkshire, at Cannon Hall, 42 ft. high; in Hertfordshire, at Cheshunt, 6 years planted, 

 and 18 ft, high ; in Edinburghshire, at Dalhousie Castle, 7 years planted, and 9 ft. high ; in Bamff. 

 «hire, at Gordon Castle, 33 ft. high. In France, in the Botanic Garden at Toulon, 36 ft. high. In 

 Saxony, at Worlitz, 60 years planted, and 50 ft. high. Jn Austria, at Kopenzel, near Vienna, 6 

 years planted, and 14 ft high. In Bavaria, in the Botanic Garden at Munich, 20 years planted, and 

 8 ft. high. In Cassel, at Wilhelmshoe, 24 years planted, and 30 ft. high. Some of the largest 

 sugar maples in America, according to Mr. Douglas, are on Goat Island, at the Falls of Niagara. 



Commercial Statistics, In the London nurseries, plants cost 2s. each, and 

 .seeds 2*. per ounce; at Bollwyller, plants are 1 franc 50 cents each; and at 

 T^ew York, 15 cents a plant, and seeds 2 dollars 25 cents per pound. 



± 8. A. Pseu'do-Pla''tanus L. The Mock Plane Tree, the Sycamore, or 



Great Maple. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 1469. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 648. 



Synonytnes- Plane Tree, Scotch ; E rable Sycamore, E'rable blanc de Montagne, fausse Platane, or 



grand E'rable, Fr, ; Ehrenbanm, weisser Ahorn, gor emeine A horn, Ger. 

 Engravings. Duh. Arb., 1. t. 36. ; Tratt. Arcli., 1. No. 2. ; Willd. Ab., t. 213. ; Krause, 1. 121. ; our 

 Jig. 123. in p. 448, 449. ; and tlie plate of this species in our Second Volume. 



Spec. Char. S^c. Leaves cordate, smooth, with 5 acuminated, unequally 

 toothed lobes. Racemes pendulous, rather compound, with the rachis, aswell 



. as the filaments of stamens, hairy. Fruit smooth, with the wings rather 

 diverging. (Doit's Mill., i. p. 648.) A deciduous tree, native of Europe, 

 flowering in May and June. Height from 30 ft. to 60 ft. Sexes mostly 

 hermaphrodite. 



Varieties. 



3f A. P.2 Jlavavar-iegdta. The i/elloivvariegaled Si/camore, or Costorph'me 

 Plane with leaves variegated with yellow. — The original tree stands 

 near an old pigeon-house in the grounds of Sir Thomas Dick 

 Lauder, Bart., in the parish of Costorphine, near Edinburgh. Seeds 

 of this variety, sown, have produced plants with green leaves; but in 

 some of the plants the footstalks of the leaves were of a yellowish 

 green colour, and this colour was partaken of by the leaf : in the 

 other plants the petioles were strongly tinged with red, and the 

 leaves were of a darker green than those of. the first-mentioned 

 plants. 



^ A. P. 3 dlbo vanegdia Hayne. The ivhite variegaUdAe&veA. St/camo7'e. — 



