44 THE PLANT WORLD 



THE CARE OF TREES IN CITY PARKS. '^ 



IN nature, trees grow in one of two ways — either in a crowded forest, 

 or in places more or less open, where they get plenty of light. Al- 

 though light is free to all, yet among the trees it is the only neces- 

 sary for which they enter a great competitive struggle, upon which 

 their very lives depend. When once started, a tree cannot help getting 

 a cei-tain quantity of food and moisture, but unless it receives light 

 also, it dies. 



In the forest, trees grow as closely together as they can live, and 

 there is a constant struggle to reach the top; those that succeed in 

 doing so will spread out, and by shading the lower ones, kill them just 

 as surely as though one cut them off with an ax. This method of 

 growth shades the ground closely, keeping it damp and cool, and each 

 year's crop of leaves buries beneath it as it falls, the dead limbs and 

 bark and chips which fell during the summer and preceding winter, and 

 these, kept always damp by this mulch of leaves, soon decay, and Avith 

 the leaves themselves, form what we know as leaf-mould, the whole 

 process being nature's method of making fertile soil. This is the nor- 

 mal forest condition, and the product of its development is timber, 

 straight-grained, strong, and nearly knot-free wood, the joy of the car- 

 penter's heart, and one of the best gifts of the Creator to man. 



But once in a while, in natural conditions, and more often when 

 the agency of man is involved, a tree gets a chance to grow in a place 

 where there is an abundance of light on all sides, and what result do we 

 find ? This tree, instead of growing tall as rapidly as possible, for fear 

 that some competitor will ciit off its supply of light, gi'ows broad nearly 

 as fast as it grows tall and sometimes faster ; all sides are covered with 

 leaves, and all the branches beneath are draped with leaves in nature's 

 own unequaled manner. Between these two styles of tree there is lit- 

 tle resemblance ; the shape is different, the leaves are all over, instead 

 of merely at the top, while the wood, though e(iually good for burning, 

 is so full of knots from the well-developed limbs, that it is nearly use- 

 less for lumber, liut for beauty there is no comparison. The one shows 

 nature in a creative mood, making soil and timber for the use of gene- 

 rations yet unborn, and the other shows her in an artistic mood, and 

 the product is something whose beauty is rarely, if ever, equalled by 

 the artifice of man. 



In our parks and city streets, trees are grown mainly for purposes 

 of shade and beauty, and as the coolest and most dense shade is given 

 by the most beautiful trees, namely, those that are covered with leaves 



* Condensed from a paper by Mr. W. E. .Saunders, read before the Horticultural 

 Society of London, Ontario, and published in "The London News." 



