School Grounds and School Gardens. 73 



The following are good trees for general planting. They succeed 

 well in many parts of the state, even where it is rather dry: Honey 

 Locust, White Elm, Hackberry, Green Ash, Russian Olive. 



For trees that grow rapidly, at least while young, some of the fol- 

 lowing might be chosen: Russian Mulberry, Soft Maple, Boxelder, Cot- 

 tonwood and Willow. The last two are among the best for valley 'and 

 m the sand hills. The Mulberry is good to attract the birds. 



Many Evergreens succeed in Nebraska. They grow as fast as most 

 long-lived trees when once well established, and some of the Pines 

 ■especially are very drouth resistant. The Evergreens are harder to 

 transplant than broad-leaved trees, however, and grow much mo'-e 

 slowly at first. They should be planted in masses at the rear, leaving 

 the foreground for deciduous trees, which can be pruned up to better 

 advantage. The Austrian and Scotch Pines are probably the best for 

 eastern Nebraska, and the former should succeed even in the western 

 part of the state. The native Bull Pine is especially adapted to western 

 Nebraska, as the Jack Pine is to the sand hills. The Red Cedar and 

 the Western Cedar are both good trees for school grounds. Of other 

 evergreens the Black Hills White Spruce, the Colorado Blue Spruce, 

 the Douglas Spruce, and the Concolor Fir are especially good. The 

 firs and spruces are among the most attractive of ornamental trees. 



Of the smaller ornamental trees, none are better than Red Bud 

 Chokecherry, Wild Plum, and Prairie Crab Apple and its relative, 

 Bechtel's Double Flowering Crab. 



Among the shrubs and vines that are native to the state, the fol- 

 lowing should be considered: Elderberry, Sumac, Snowberry and 

 Coralberry, Red Dogwood, Buffalo Berry, Sand Berry, Wild Rose, Wild 

 Currant, Wild Gooseberry, Virginia Creeper, and Wild Grape. These 

 hardy native shrubs are adapted to withstand the neglect and hard 

 usage to which school grounds are often subjected. They can be had 

 by simply going to the neighboring woods or prairies and digging them 

 up. And yet, when properly cared for they are among the most attrac- 

 tive of shrubs. They are used commonly in parks and similar plantings 

 even when they have to be purchased from nurseries. But then, some 

 people do not like the wild bushes — "brush" — that grow so commonl.v'' 

 all around. If there are any such among the readers of this, they of 

 course have the privilege of "sending off" to some eastern nursery for 

 some "rare" shrubs, such as Sambucus, Rhus, Symphoricarpos, Cornus 

 Sanguinea, Ampelopsis, and the like. Of course they will get the same 

 things, whether they send for these or dig up from the roadside the 

 ones mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph. Fifty cents or a 

 dollar apiece is a pretty good price to pay for a botanical name (th-i 



