38 



ARBORICULTURE 



Some Good Trees For Colorado Springs 



Colorado Springs Telegraph, July 20. 1902. 



THE following very interesting paper 

 was read at the recent meeting of 

 the El Paso Horticultural Society 

 by Ml'. John P. Prown. 



The address is especially interesting be- 

 cause it is localized and treats of the espe- 

 cial needs of this particular region. The 

 subject of trees is one on which the people 

 can scarcely receive too much information. 



The pioneers of the plains country, all 

 that vast region west of the Missouri river, 

 would have had a far more difficult time had 

 it not been for the abundance of the cotton- 

 wood and box elder which bordered every 

 stream. These were the primitive trees of 

 all this region and are entitled to credit as 

 such. 



The downy seed, floating in the air, was 

 wafted by the breezes to every nook and 

 corner of all this western world. Had every 

 seed of the cottonwood produced a tree, 

 these mountains and plains would now be a 

 dense forest wilderness, instead of a treeless 

 desert. Put all this prodigality of nature 

 in seed production has been wasted, except 

 where the running streams of water moist- 

 ened the earth and gave vitality to the seed. 

 P)0th these trees demand large quantities of 

 water and will not succeed without it. In 

 the cities the cottonwood sinks its roots 

 inU) the sewers, clogging them at times, in 

 search of water. 



I recently saw a large, fine cistern, in 

 Kansas, which had been ruined by the roots 

 of a giant cottonwood which had penetrated 

 the walls and opened crevices in the cement 

 so that it would no longer hold water. 



It was natural that the pioneer settlers of 

 the West, finding the cottonwood abundant, 

 should take it for granted that nature did 

 not intend other trees for this semi-arid re- 

 gion, and thus confine their tree i)lanting to 

 these two trees; and so we find in Colorado 

 Springs a vast majority of trees on your 

 streets are of these species of trees, and 

 but few of the finer fibered and better trees 

 have been planted. 



But there are many serious objections to 

 the cottonwood. 



1. The Hying seeds have at times caused 

 death to the persons who inhaled them and 

 the cottony seed is a general nuisance dur- 

 ing the period of its falling. 



2. There is no tree known to arboricul- 

 ture which possesses so many enemies, in- 

 sect and fungoid, as the few members of 

 the Populus family included in Palm of 

 Cilead, large leaf cottonwood, narrow leaf 

 cottonwood, aspen and the so-called Caro- 

 lina poplar, which is only a cottonwood al- 

 though sold at high prices under a false 

 name. 



Americans are always in a hurry. Peo- 

 ple want trees already grown and are not 

 content to wait. They want trees which 

 grow with greatest rapidity. Well, this is 

 all right if not carried to the exclusion of 

 these slower growing but finer foliage and 

 more dura])le sorts. 



THE MAPLES. 



Almost the only maple used in your street 

 planting and home grounds is the silver 

 maple (Acer dasycnrpum). This, too, is a 

 pioneer tree, probably the most rapid grow- 

 ing of the maple family. Properly pruned 

 when young, and kept trimmed in at all times, 

 it may be formed into a round head, but it 

 requires constant pruning. The branches 

 are l)rittle, very long, easily Ijroken in wind, 

 or with an accumulation of snow. It is a 

 good tree to plant alternately with other 

 somewhat slower growing trees, but is very 

 unsatisfactory where exclusively used. 



Scarlet maple {Acer ruhrum) is better; 

 has a round head, is a quick grower, and is 

 very handsome, as it colors its foliage in 

 autumn. 



Sugar or rock maple {Acer saccharinum) 

 is one of the very best street trees in Amer- 

 ica and succeeds in Colorado. It is very 

 free from insects. Its growth is slightly 

 slower than the two first mentioned varie- 

 ties, but its foliage is superb. It requires 

 little or no pruning, and less water than the 

 two swamp maples first mentioned. Its 

 home is on rolling and mountainous lands; 

 has a tap root which goes deep after moist- 

 ure and food. 



