Woodlot mangement

[Al]

Didn't really know were to put this subject so I put it here. A little background first. 23 acres purchased in 1989. Never touched untill five years ago. Cut many, many thorntrees. It seemed like every Maple had at least 5 around them. Now that's done but I also have alot of maples of varying sizes. How far apart do they have to be to grow well? I also have clumbs of 3 or 4 growing together? What one would you leave? Some of the trees also appear to be having the bark peel off? Should I cut them? Is there material out there on this subject?
Thanks

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Al,

I don't know all the answers to your questions but there are a couple of good books that would probably help you than anything else! Sugarbush Management and the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual have good information on this topic.

Most dealers and suppliers carry these books or you can order them from Bascom Maple before May 15th and get a 10% discount:

www.bascommaple.com

Brandon

[forester1]

I would check with your local natural resource agency, conservation district, or extension agency. Often there is a forester on staff who can come out and give free advice. Tell the forester that you are interested in managing the maple for a sugarbush. The advice would be different than for timber.

How far apart would depend on the size of trees. Generally you would want to develop single stem trees with large crowns. Large crowned trees produce more sap and sweeter sap. When the trees crowns are touching on all sides the crowns of adjacent trees, it is probably time to thin them out. This gives the remaining trees room to expand their crowns and grow. Just like thinning carrots in a garden. Try to leave the healthiest, straightest, largest maple in any spot. Avoid acute forks low on the tree as these will break as the tree expands. On clumps I would cut all in a clump or leave all. Rot can come into remaining trees in a clump from the stumps of those cut.

[forester1]

A couple other things I thought to bring up about this subject. One is to of course discriminate against other species in favor of sugar maple in your thinning. Some however prefer a more ecological approach, leaving some trees of other species. Monocultures are not natural but in a twenty acre stand, moving toward a pure sugar maple stand is probably not harmful if mixed other trees are on neighboring parcels.

The other thing that can be done if you really get into it and have a lot of maple is to get a refractometer and test for sweet trees before you thin. I do this where the maple is 6 inches in diameter and there are a lot of good sugar maple to choose from. I use an ice pick and poke a small hole through the bark and use a toothpick to get a drop to test. The down side is this has to be done when the sap is running and there is a lot of other stuff to do. Test a group all at the same time, rinsing your pick and refractometer with distilled water between trees. Sweetness varies through the season but the trees stay relative to each other. In other words, one sweeter than another at one time will be sweeter than the same tree at another time. Then I paint a code on the tree that I use later when I cut. I got my refractometer on ebay for $35 brand new. There are regular sellers of refractometers on ebay that start at less than $50 new. Be sure to get a 0-32 brix or 0-18 brix.

[mapleman3]

Jerry, I'd be interested in a 35 dollar refractometer, is it reliable?
Jim
0-35 for syrup I presume 0-18 for sap?

[Al]

Thanks for all the great info Jerry. I'm leaving most every kind of trees even a few thorn trees for the berrys. Like you posted I would like to give my maples enough room to grow healthy and have done pretty well at that. Boy this syrup business can get pretty interesting.
Take care

[forester1]

Mapleman3, The refractometer I got is chinese made. It looks to me to be of high quality. It looks like the picture in my maple supplier catalog. It comes with a case, pipettes, and instructions. The two main sellers on ebay start out at about $49. There is another guy starts out at $35 but isn't on often. He told me he imported 1000 from China. Click refractometer into the ebay search. Don't try to outbid anyone, these sellers are on all the time. I use the the 0-32 brix for sap. It works but the scale is harder to see for sap. The 0-18 brix is harder to get on ebay because it is not as common so there are more bidders. It would definitely be better for sap if you could get a 0-18 brix.