Lesson CXC

The Sugar Maple

Leading thought—The sugar maple grows very rapidly, and is therefore a useful shade tree. Its wood is used for many purposes, and from its sap is made a delicious sugar.

Method—This study of the maple should be done by the pupils out of doors, with a tree to answer the questions. The study of the leaves, blossoms and fruit may be made in the schoolroom. The maple is an excellent subject for Lesson CLXXXVIII. The observations should begin in the fall and continue at intervals until June.

Observations. Fall Work—1. Where is the maple you are studying? Is it near other trees? What is the shape of the head? What is the height of the trunk below the branches? What is the height of the tree? How large around is the trunk three feet from the ground? Can you find when the tree was planted? Can you tell by the shape of the tree from which direction the wind blows most often?

2. Can you find seeds on your tree? Each pair of seeds is called a key. Sketch a key, showing the way the seeds are joined and the direction of the wings. Sketch the stem which holds the key to the twig. Are both seeds of the key good or is one empty? How are the seeds scattered and planted? How far will a maple key fly on its wings? Plant a maple seed where you can watch it grow next year.

3. Make leaf prints and describe a leaf of the maple, showing its shape, its veins and petiole. Are the leaves arranged opposite or alternate on the twig? Make leaf-prints or sketches of the leaves of all the other kinds of maples which you can find. How can you tell the different kinds of maples by their leaves?

4. If your tree stands alone, measure the ground covered by its shadow from morning until evening. Mark the space by stakes. What grows beneath the tree? Do grass and other plants grow thriftily beneath the tree? Do the same plants grow there as in the open field?

5. Does your maple get its autumn colors all at once, or on one or two branches first? At what time do you see the first autumn colors on your tree? When is it completely clothed in its autumn dress? Is it all red or all yellow, or mixed? If it is yellow this year do you think it will be red next year? Watch and see. Sketch your maple in water-colors.

6. At what time do the leaves begin to fall? Do those branches which first colored brightly shed their leaves before the others? At what date does your tree stand bare?

7. Find a maple tree in the forest and compare it with one that grows as a shade tree in a field. Why this difference?

Winter Work—8. Make a sketch of your maple with the leaves off. What sort of bark has it? Is the bark on the branches like that on the trunk? Are the main branches large? At what angle do they come off the trunk? Does the trunk extend up through the entire tree? Is the spray fine or coarse? Is it straight or crooked?

9. Study the winter buds. Are they alternate or opposite on the twigs? Are they shining or dull?

Spring Study—10. At what time do we tap maple trees for sap? On which side of the tree do we make the hole? If we tapped the tree earlier would we get any sap? What kind of weather is the best for causing sap flow? Do you suppose that it is the sap going up from the root to the tree and the branches, or that coming down from the branches to the root which flows into the bucket? Why do we not make maple-sugar all summer? Do you suppose the sap ceases to run because there is no more sap in the tree?

11. Write a story telling all you can find in books or that you know from your own experience about the making of maple-sugar.

12. When do the leaves of your maple first appear? How do they then look? Do they stand out or droop?

13. Do the blossoms appear with the leaves or after them? How do the blossoms look? Can you tell the blossoms with stamens from those with pistils? Do you find them in the same cluster? Do you find them on the same tree?

14. What uses do we find for maple wood? What is the character of the wood?

Supplementary reading—Trees in Prose and Poetry pp. 25–41.