The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1873-04-10
The Destruction of the Sugar Maple.

One OF the leading maplc-sugar makers
claims that but very few productions, III the
entire system of New England agriculture.
realize to the farmer so large a profit as the
manufacture of that commodity. As prices
have averaged for the last ten wears. it is
certainly a feature Of home industry we'll
worthy of consideration. Many of the
farmers on the hills who own and utilize
large sugar orchards have become con-
Vlnced by practical experience, thas it is
one OF their very best paying harvests, to-
bacco alone yielding, perhaps, a greater net
profit. Nature has appointed this harvest
at a season when the farmer can accomplish
but little labor to advantage, and, unless
he is engaged in this occupation, his time
and efforts will yield him but little remuner-
alton; yet, without taking this point into
account, even did the work come at any
other time in the year, ii would pay Srandy.
Maple syrup and sugar hold a high price in
the market, and without a doubt Will sus-
tain their present rateS, with probabilities
OF advance in the future. In the face of
these facts it is certainly somewhat of
mystery why large proportion OF farmers
should manifest such an utter Indifference
to the preservation and pcrpetuty of the
sugar maple. In no other part of the
country does it flourish so naturally and
vigorously as among the eastern mountains;
and wherever its delicious sweets are cX-
tracted, it repays the owner threc-fold for
the labor. Still our maple groves and for
ests are rapidly disappearing, and, at the
present rate of decrease, another halt-cen-
tury will witness their almost utter ami
hllat0n. The process of making maple
sugar Is evidently destined to become one
OF The "lost arts unless some SDecia! inter-
position stays this work of destruction.
The demand for broom handles and other
articles OF utility, into which this wood is
converted, is lnSatiabie. Thousands of our
grand old cmera-crowned monarchs Of the
forest are sacrificed to this demand annuallv
and OF course the aggregate amount of
sugar manufactured must decrease IN ratio
with the decrease of the material from
which it is derived. 1t will soon become
luxury in the market, commanding Il price
that must teach every shrcwd and sensible
owner of maple orchards the expediency,
even in pecuniarv sense, Of preserving
this beautiful feature of our new England
landscape. BY all means, then, let our
maple forests escape the invasion of that
dire energy and cupidity, which are so
rapidly and rccklessly diSmanlin9 our
lovely hills and valleys of their primitive
grandeur and luXurance. The maple grove
once destroyed, cannot easily be replaced
us reproduction is the slow, lingering work
Of time; and it behooyes the lumbcrman
to remember this important fact when he
puts the axe TO its root. The perpetuitv of
the delicious luxury obtained from the
sngar-maple is not the only incentive 20 the
preservation OF that tree. In q pictorial
sense alone, with its wealth Of unparalleled
greenness and verdure in summer, and its
marvellous mosaic OF leafy glory in autumn,
it is worthy OF a woodland immortality.
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