I have a 100+ year old house and am working on removing all the gunk from several layers of vinyl. I have purchased new maple for the patches and remaining 1/3 of the room (that wasn't maple originally). Should I try to blend in the new and old when installing - or will this make the color process more difficult? or should I try to stain the new to amber it? I'd actually like to stain the entire thing -the old stain is a nice light brown.
Shallac? Water popping?
Thank you

Sometimes the flooring in an old house will not match new flooring where the T&G slides together, so that would mean it's not possible to blend old flooring with the new.
It would make matching the color less noticeable if you could mix the old flooring taken from the room with new. You should try to match the grade of the old flooring, too, either 1st, or second and better. Second and better may have mineral streaks.
An old floor was usually only varnished with a gloss varnish after a shellac seal coat and turned brown with no stain. The finish obscured the grain because it darkened.
A maple floor was usually kept light, but with a modern finish it looks much better when it has been stained the light brown before the clear finish. Maple will amber on it's own over time with exposure to light. Practice sanding and then have a stain sample to choose the color. Get the color you want and just accept that it will deepen in color as it ambers. Oil based poly-urethan will yellow depending on the brand that is used, so some people like the water based finish that can go on right after the stain has dried thoroughly without a sealer coat. Water popping will give a more intense color and will show less sanding marks.
A stained floor will help anchor the architecture, especially with high ceilings.

In my experience, water-popping is the only way maple will accept a stain.