they could also occur in the form of single species stands is also the most likely reading of a comment of Curtis (1775)”? and of Selkirk’s references to ”beech and maple lands", and to "beech and maple alone” (i.e. growing on their own), though it is not impossible that in both comments he is referring to the mixture of the two rather than to either tree growing on its own.389

With regard to its soil requirements, ’maple’ was one of the hardwoods whose presence in the natural forest was taken as an indicator of soils suitable for agriculture.390 Bain (1890) in fact referred to the soil under sugar maples as being ”rich", while Selkirk (1803) noted that ”beech and maple alone” he without black birch and the associated conifers) was an indication of ”very dry land”.

Other comments related to habitat comprise the following: Stewart (1806) said that what he called ’red maple’ was ”generally found growing in swamps”391 and we have an example of such maple in the ash swamp that Gray (1793) came across in the centre of Lot 13. However, that it also occurred on drier soils is implied in evidence to the Land Commission of 1875 concerning the ready ability of red maple to sprout from cut stumps: the fact that some land was more prone to such sprouting problems than others, implies that red maple may have been more prevalent in some parts of the uncleared forest than in

othersm. Finally, Bain (1890) noted that

1868-1884: in 1873); in a “primitive forest" near York Point (with “birches”) (Bain 1868-1884: in 1879); in a remnant of “ancient forest” near North Wiltshire (with “birches”, and firs and spruces in the ‘valley') ([Bain] 1882); and at Elliots Mills (with "birch" and "firs") ([Bain] 1883).

388 See footnote 323: the reasoning that is there applied to beech is also likely to apply to Curtis' ‘maple'.

38" The first is from Selkirk (1805), the second, Selkirk (1803). 390 ‘Maple' is an element of the forest on Stewart‘s (1806) “best" and “second-best” soils, and probably on his third-best, though he does not specify the species for this last: It is an element on the “richest" soil of MacGregor (1828); on the soils of “superior quality" of Hill (1839); on the "good" soils of Lawson (1851); on the “first quality land“ described by James Smith of Lot 20, in giving evidence to the Land Commission (1875), and on the “best agricultural soils" of Bain (1890). Also, it is likely to have been an element in the "mixture of hardwood” indicative of Johnstone’s (1822) "best" soil (though he does not tell us the species in the mixture) and it is implied on the soils ”best for growing corn“ of Curtis (1775):

39‘ This implies that Stewart's ‘white maple’, which also appears to have been A, rubrum, did not occur in swamps

392 Land Commission 1875: the testimony of William McNeill who said that “the front" (i.e. the coast area) of Lot 24 was more prone to the problem than “the front" of Lot 23:

200

mountain maple was found as a ”thick under-shrub in the forests of the hilly part of the country”.

Properties and uses — The wood of the different maples was perceived to vary in quality: Stewart (1806) noted that the wood of what he called "red maple found growing in swamps” [i.e. Acer rubrum] was ”of no value”, while Sutherland (1861) said it was ”soft and little esteemed"393. Bain (1890) also noted that the timber of the red maple in general was "softer and less valuable”. However, the Acer rubrum of the upland forest (what Stewart called ’white maple’ and Sutherland ’white sugar maple’) was said to be, respectively, ”firm and smooth, [taking] a fine polish fit for

many common purposes”, and ”a valuable tree".394

However, it was the wood of the sugar maple — and especially the forms called ’curled’ and ’bird’s eye’ maple — that drew favourable comments from many recorders395. The records indicate that sugar maple wood was used in ship-building396; in furniture397 and cabinet—work398; and for machinery

393 I take Sutherland’s ‘white maple' to be also Acer rubrum of the

swamps — see Nomenclature and Identification above. 39‘ Benjamin Chappell (1778-1816) (in 1801) obtained “white mapel Horses for the wheels", presumably his spinning wheels. He frequently used maple for other purposes but usually did not record the species:

395 Holland 1764: “curled maple a fine wood peculiar to this Country"; Holland 1765 (October): "curled maple takes an excellent polish”; [Clark] 1779: “curled maple, very beautiful for furniture"; Walsh 1803: “sugar maple is sawed into excellent Timber"; Selkirk 1805: “some of the many varieties of maple are fine and beautiful timber"; Stewart 1806: “rock or curled maple the butts of many of them for six or eight feet from the ground, being finely curled, renders this timber extremely beautiful in cabinet work as it is very close grained and susceptible of a high polish“; Anon. 1808: “maple, a very beautiful wood for furniture“; MacGregor 1828: “four varieties of sugar maple all of which take a beautiful polish"; Hill 1839: “rock or bird‘s eye maple is about the colour of satin-wood, but being spotted with marks resembling birds-eyes, from which it receives its name, it is a much handsomer wood; but it will not be much esteemed until it becomes more scarce"; Bain 189: “sugar maple timber is close-grained and strong”.

396 Bain 1890. He does not specify the parts of ships that the wood was used for. I note, however, that Perley (1847), in his paper on the trees of New Brunswick, records that the wood of sugar maple “when exposed to moisture soon decays, and is therefore neglected in civil and naval architecture".

397 [Clark] 1779; Anon. 1808; MacGregor 1828: Benjamin Chappell (1778-1818) (in 1778) records making a card-table out of ‘Cirl‘d Maple‘, while Captain John MacDonald (1784) included ‘maple' as one of the woods that he wanted cut and seasoned so as to be ready in the future for “chairs and other uses":

39“ Stewart 1806; Hill 1839; Bain 1890,