14 
THE NATIVE TREES OF RHODE ISLAND. 
deal of ill usage from “ tree butchers ” and horse-biting and still 
recover. There are many street and highway rows, and little 
parts of rock maples, which can easily be called to mind, that 
redeem the places where they stand from lack of other attractive 
features. If it is desirable to carry the top of the rock maple up, 
to prevent obstructing window-light, it may be done easily by 
lopping off the lower limbs ; the top growth will ascend, forming 
a well shaped head. It is, indeed, a very manageable tree. Its 
great value as a sugar tree, or for timber and fuel, we can hardly 
consider in Rhode Island, as, at present, its importance here lies 
in its use as a shade and ornamental tree. As fuel, however, the 
wood ranks next to hickory, and timber logs of it are never cheap, 
as its uses are many and important. 
THE RED MAPLE. 
The red maple, or “ soft ” maple of our moist valleys and wet, 
flat grounds, is very common in this State, and is the tree that 
shows most of the gorgeous coloring of our autumn foliage. It 
naturally occupies many acres of poorly drained, swampy lands, 
which would grow no other trees of value. It flourishes well, too, 
on high places, if started there from the seed. It is a fine shade 
tree and well adapted for some streets. It has a closer head and 
darker aspect than the rock maple. Its early blossoms, coming 
before the leaves, are very attractive, and its autumn foliage is a 
perfect banquet of color. Its wood is much used for toys, models, 
and light work of various kinds, but is inferior to most hard woods 
as fuel. There are some fine specimens of young red maples set 
as memorial trees on the roadway bank of the second lakelet in 
Roger Williams Park. 
THE WHITE MAPLE. 
The white maple, also known as the “ cut leaf ” and “ river ” 
maple, grows with great vigor in sheltered locations in Providence 
and vicinity. It forms a stately tree of symmetrical shape. The 
lower limbs begin quite early to trend downwards, and the under 
