MOOSE WOOD. 
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■wholly unknown, in those parts in which it abounds. The name of Moose 
Wood was given it by the first settlers, from observing that the Moose, an 
animal now rare in this region, subsisted during the latter part of winter 
and the beginning of Spring, upon its young twigs. 
This tree makes its first appearance near Lake St. John, in the 47th de 
gree of latitude, that is to say, a little further north than the preceding spe- 
cies. In Nova Scotia and the District of Maine, where I have most par- 
ticularly observed it, it fills the forests. Toward the Hudson it becomes 
more rare, and beyond this boundary, is confined to the mountainous tracts 
of the Alleghanies, on which it is found, in cold and shaded exposures, 
along the whole range to its termination in Georgia. 
In the District of Maine I have always found the Moose Wood most 
vigorous in rnixt forests, or what are called Mixture lands ; where the woods 
are composed of the Sugar Maple, the Beech, the White Birch, the Yellow 
Birch, and the Hemlock Spruce. In these forests, it constitutes a great 
part of the under growth ; for its ordinary height is less than 10 feet, though 
I have found individual trees of more than twice this stature. 
The trunk and branches of the Moose Wood are clad in a smooth green 
bark, longitudinally marked with black stripes, by which it is easily dis- 
tinguishable, at all seasons of the year. 
This is one of the earliest trees of North America, whose vegetation 
announces the approach of the genial season. Its buds and leaves, when 
beginning to unfold, are rose colored, and have a pleasing effect ; but this 
hue soon changes to green. On luxuriant trees, the leaves are of a pretty 
thick texture, and finely serrate. They are 4 or 5 inches broad, rounded 
at the base, and divided into 3 deep acute lobes. The flowers are of a 
greenish cast, and grouped on long, pendulous peduncles. The fruit, 
which in the main resembles that of the other Maples, is remarkable for a 
small cavity on one side of the capsules : it is produced in abundance, 
and is ripe about the end of September. 
The inferior size of the Moose Wood forbids its use in any kind of car- 
pentry, but as it is white and fine grained, the cabinet-makers of Hali- 
fax employ it instead of the Holly, ’which does not grow in so northern a 
climate, for forming the white lines with which they inlay Mahogany. Its 
principal advantage consists in furnishing the inhabitants, at the close 
of winter, when their forage is exhausted, a resource for sustaining 
their cattle, till the advancing season has renewed the herbage. As soon 
as the buds begin to swell, the famished horses and neat cattle are turned 
loose into the woods, to browse on the young shoots, which they crop 
with avidity. Poor as this resource may appear, it is not w^holly inade- 
quate, since the twigs are tender, and full of saccharine juice. A similar 
practice prevails, also, in the new settlements of the West. 
This species of Maple has been long cultivated in Europe in parks and 
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