166 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



ripe, and the exposure hastens its decay. Were I to prepare for 

 ornamenting a building site again, I would cut off all the native 

 wild growth and then go to the woods and get young trees to set 

 out around the house to grow up with top and form suited to the 

 conditions in which they are placed. 



J. C. Ford, of Madison — I would like to ask Mr. Stickney 

 why he does not include the Black Walnut in his list of trees to 

 be planted on the line of roads and farms. He has it in the first 

 list of rapidly growing trees. It is certainly a very fine orna- 

 mental tree, bears nuts abundantly, and, when grown, makes 

 valuable lumber. The branches are sturdy, and the tree is not 

 apt to be broken down by the winds, and I should think it would 

 be a valuable tree to set along the line of the streets in the 

 country. 



Mr. Stickney — The gentleman will notice that, by reversing 

 the list as I recommend in planting, the Black Walnut comes 

 last. This was done mainly because it is not the most rapid 

 growing of those trees. All he says about the quality of the 

 tree is true, but by observing it carefully you will discover vari- 

 ous little objectionable things in it as a street tree. It would do 

 better for this purpose in the country than in the city or village. 



Mr. Ford — It is mainly with reference to country planting 

 that I speak. Until within a few years I had no idea that it 

 would grow in the open country. My brother has a few young 

 trees along the street in this city. They are about twenty years 

 old, ten or twelve inches in diameter, perhaps, and bear two or 

 three bushels of nuts apiece. They are certainly a very hand- 

 some tree in the grounds. 



Mr. Stickney — I have had them on my grounds for thirty-two 

 years, and now have the third generation in bearing. If you 

 will notice a Black Walnut standing singly, you will observe that 

 the vegetation under it is very scant compared with that under 

 the Linden or almost any other tree. No crop will grow under 

 it, or very near it, with the same thrift as under other trees. 

 Whether this is caused by the drip of the tree, or because the tree 

 is such a gross feeder, exhausting the soil, remains a question. It 

 leaves out a little late in the spring, which is rather against it as 



