34 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



ened, as the ground being filled on all sides with its own and neighbor's roots, 

 the elements necessary to healthy and long life will soon be exhausted ; so I 

 should say, whether in thinning or planting, give plenty of room. Study well 

 the character of the kind in hand, and examine carefully the oldest you cau 

 find growing in fields, or other places where there has been no crowding, that 

 you may form some idea of the room they will need when they are fifty to one 

 hundred years old, and never for a moment lose sight of the grand idea tiiat 

 if your work is well done, its results will reach into the far distant future, and 

 be enjoyed by generations better able to appreciate it than the present. Such 

 considerations, however, do not invalidate tlie fact that an occasional irregular 

 group, or even small thicket may greatly enhance the beauty of the scene. 



In thinning out we should of course reserve as many kinds as possible, but 

 should always save the longest lived where there is a choice. If trees are so 

 crowded as to be flattened on one side, leave those having the most branches 

 toward the west, and so if they lean, reserve those that incline to the west. 



Sometimes, when two or three are so close as to have about spoiled each 

 other, two, or even all may be left with good effect. 



In thinking the whole matter over once more, I am more than ever impressed 

 with the necessity of empowering properly qualified persons to decide what is 

 best iu all cases pertaining to this very important subject, that those who are 

 ignorant of such matters may not defraud the public, and in so doing injure 

 themselves. 



Mr. Norton: I would like to ask Mr. Steere what is his opinion as to the 

 best way to set roadside trees? 



Mr. Steere : With the present lack of knowledge as to methods of group- 

 ing, and Avant of appreciation of the variety ])roduced by i)roper grouping, I 

 should favor trees in right lines along the road. But had I the planting of 

 the road trees for any considerable district under my direct charge, with au- 

 thority to do as I pleased, I should certainly place them in irregular groups, 

 giving as much variety to them as jiossible. 



Mr. Tracy: This can be accomplished very nicely too, by planting at the 

 corners of farms, and varying the spaces between groups by utilizing both sides 

 of the road. 



Mr. Xorton : Is it better to mix trees in the groups, or have each group of 

 one kind of tree? 



Mr. Ilelme : I certainly should mix the trees in each individual group. 



Mr. Scott: I wish the elm might be used more for roadside planting; to 

 me it is the grandest tree of all when properly grown. 



Mr. Steere: Yes, it is a grand tree, but there are decided objections to it 

 as a tree for ordinary highway planting. It is somewhat })articular as to the 

 soil upon which it grows; and it is very greatly injured by canker worms, when 

 they once come into a locality. This last objection also holds against the 

 bass wood. 



Mr. Scott: They can be syringed with Paris green solution and defeated. 



Mr. Steere : But when an elm tree reaches fifty or sixty feet in height, 

 this can be accomplished only with great difficulty. 



Mr. Reynolds : Why not use fruit trees for highway planting? 



Mr. Underwood : This question, it seems to me, is (juite apropos. Fruit 

 trees along the roadside would not only be beautiful, but would afford a lux- 

 ury to the traveling public. ' 



Mr. Steere : I am decidedly opposed to this. We plant trees on the high- 



