402 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



front of bis bouse. Eacb man seems to forget it when be goes away from 

 home. My ideal of a country road is that it be properly turnpiked and grav- 

 eled, wifb a nice row of maples (not too close to each other) on each side, and 

 a strip of turf straight on the ditch edge, and mowed by the owner twice a 

 year for the sake oi looks and of hay. The hay would pay for the work, and 

 the beautiful eflFect would be worth the while. 



A correspondent of the New York Tribune gives the following note on street 

 trees : 



What are the best trees to plant along roadside and pavement curb is a much 

 mooted question that I have been trying to answer to myself for several years, 

 and I venture to record the result of my experience up to the present time. 

 There are five requirements: Hardiness, rapid growth, attractive appearance, 

 umbrageousness, and adaptation. If for the crowded city with its gas and 

 smoke, as well as the uncongenial soil where it is expected to thrive, and the 

 roots covered too with a pavement, then we must be very careful in our selec- 

 tion, as the list of available species is small indeed. But in the suburban town 

 our list of available trees may be greatly enlarged, and for new avenues, broad 

 and open, or for the country roadside we have little trouble in deciding. As at 

 present advised I would suggest: For dense cities in narrow streets, I know 

 of nothing to excel the the so-called "Carolina" poplar, with its large, dark 

 green foliage, rapid growth, and hardy character, apparently succeeding where 

 most other species assuredly fail. Next, for the rural town, I prefer decidedly 

 the well known sugar maple, notwithstanding it is not of such rapid growth as 

 some others. But it possesses so many valuable properties that it must take 

 preference. Lastly, for the country roadside, I prefer the American linden, 

 with its very rapid growth, umbrageous foliage, hardiness, and adaptability to 

 the purpose. 



THE RUSSIAN MULBERRY. 



Mr. D. C. Burson, of Topeka, Kansas, believes in the Russian mulberry, and 

 if all he claims for it be true, and it is hardy with us in every respect, it is as 

 good for Michigan as for the prairies of the West. He says it is a rapid grower 

 and stands transplanting almost equal to the cotton wood, but its great 

 superiority over the cotton wood is that its timber is valuable, the tree orna- 

 mental, and the fruit useful. Tlie timber is used in the manufacturing of 

 cabinet-ware, and for durability as a fence post it is not surpassed even by the 

 catalpa or red cedar. It commences bearing at two years old, and is very pro- 

 ductive. The fruit, which is about the size of blackberries, has a sub-acid, 

 sweet taste, and is used for dessert; it also makes a pleasant light wine, and 

 the leaves are largely used for silk worm food. As to the ra])idity of its growth, 

 trees, the seeds ot which were planted seven years ago, are now 25 feet in height, 

 and from six to eight inches in diameter. They grow to be very large, often 

 60 feet high and irom three to lour feet in diameter. So, I firmly believe, that 

 alter taking into consideration the certainty of growing when transidanted, the 

 rapidity with which it grows, the value of the timber when young, the useful- 

 ness of the fruit tor the table and the leaves for silk worms, we have no tree of 

 more value — the catalpa excepted — for our western prairies, both for present 

 and future generations than ilie Russian mulberry. 



