544 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



ing trees and the latter is a favorite food for insect pests. 

 The European linden is the better tree for street planting. 

 The American linden grows very straggley in the vicinity 

 of Xew York, though it seems to do better further south. 

 The horse-chestnut prefers a rich soil and is subject to a 

 fungous disease, which discolors its leaves, causing them 

 to drop in midsummer. It is also a common victim of 



PROTECTIN'G THE MAPLE 



In the centre is a small but hardy Norway maple and upon each side are poplars 

 of larger growth which have been placed there temporarily. 



" slime flux," a disease that causes the flow of sap from 

 crevices in the trunk. The tree is used extensively abroad 

 for street planting, but, for reasons just stated, should be 

 used more sparingly in this country. The cUn has the 

 noblest form of all our shade trees, but should only be 

 planted on wide avenues, in suburban sections where it 

 can find a deep, rich, moist soil and plenty of unvitiated 

 air. The tulip tree compares favorably with other species 

 in form and attractiveness, btit it is so exacting in its 

 soil and moisture requirements that only young speci- 

 mens should be used and its planting restricted to 

 suburban sections. 



The objectionable trees for street planting are all the 

 poplars, the silver and sycamore maples, the catalpa and 

 male ailanthus. The poplars are very short-lived trees. 

 They are dangerous in wind-storms and grow so fast as to 

 require constant cutting back. At a certain age their 

 roots upset the sidewalk and their fine rootlets clog the 

 neighboring water and sewer pipes. Their leaves drop 

 very early in the fall and if the species is of the pistillate 

 kind, the catkins, falling on the sidewalk, become a danger 

 and a nuisance to pedestrians. The silver maples are 

 constantlv full of dead wood, are subject to boring insects 



and are short-lived. The sycamore maple is a favorite of 

 boring insects in the vicinity of Xew York, though in 

 other places it has escaped these pests. The variety of 

 ailanthus tree that bears the male or staminate flowers 

 generates a strong, rather oppressive odor, but if the pis- 

 tillate form is chosen, the tree will produce a beautiful 

 head and grow in places where no other tree will grow. 



Such are the principal problems of those charged 

 with the care of street trees. I have not attempted to 

 dilate on the details of the work because they are too 

 numerous and because, as in everything else, their solu- 

 tion will often depend more upon the judgment of the 

 forester in charge and upon the local conditions than upon 

 any rules that ma}- be laid down. But, whatever the 

 problems, do not let us forget that they can always best 

 be solved by one equipped with technical knowledge and 

 experience, and that the trees are worth the effort since 

 they are always valued by the citizen and ultimately 

 lead to a better appreciation of all other forms of 

 civic improvement. 



M( )\1XG LARGE TREES 



SL'PERIXTENDEXT C. L. BROCK, of the Park 

 Department of Houston, Texas, sends the 

 accompan}-ing photographs of some trees that he 

 moved recently with successful results. Alain Street of 

 Houston is being widened into a wide boulevard and it was 

 necessarv to set back manv of the trees to make room for 



MU\-i:-,L. L.VRGE TREES 



Each tree, most of them large ones, on a line along which stands the tree in this 

 photograph, was moved close to the wall on the left, at Houston, Texas. Out of 

 215 so moved, only three died. 



the pavement. In all, there were two hundred and fifteen 

 trees to be moved. These are live oak (Oiierciis I'ir- 

 giniana). as no other trees are planted on the street. 

 Most of the trees were moved from three to fifteen feet 

 and a few, fifty and si.xty feet. 



Considering the time of the year, — the moving was 

 in June and Tulv, — it v.as a somewhat hazardous task 



