ARBORICULTURE 



421 



Excellent Tree Growth. 



On the opposite page is shown a white 

 elm tree planted by the editor of Arbori- 

 culture at his home, in 1893. In ten 

 years it has grown from a little switch 

 to be 35 feet high, 30 inches girth 8 feet 

 from the ground, 35 inches at 4 feet 

 high, and 401/2 inches a foot from the 

 ground. 



Other similar trees planted at the 

 same time and before are now 5 inches 

 in diameter. What makes the differ- 

 ence? 



This tree was planted in a hole made 

 large enough to receive the roots without 

 crowding. It is in fairly good clay soil, 

 and has received some water during each 

 summer, and has ample room to expand 

 its roots in good soil. 



People who plant street trees in post 

 holes and expect them to make such 

 progress naturally are disappointed at 

 results. Those who plant 4x4 feet in 

 forest never obtained such trees. 



Hundreds of elm trees have been 

 transplanted in our cities which at time 

 of removal were as large as this tree now 

 is, and after years of waiting the trees 

 may be alive, but are no larger than 

 when removed. 



The roots of this tree now occupy a 



surface space of 400 square feet. In a 

 forest plantation where trees are set 4x4 

 feet each tree must subsist in what 

 water and food it can obtain on 16 

 square feet surface, 25 trees occupying 

 the same area which this elm demands. 

 Is it hard to understand why the great 

 Farlington plantation after a quarter 

 of a century has never produced a tree 

 large enough for a crosstie? Is it not 

 easy to see that careful planting, good 

 culture, sufficient water, ample room for 

 root growth, will make a slow-growing 

 elm grow into a handsome shade tree in 

 one decade? 



Is it not evident that with patience, 

 planting small trees and giving them 

 proper attention will give greater and 

 quicker results than removing a large 

 tree and saving only a few of the roots ? 

 Hard by are some maples, one a sugar 

 maple, others the soft or silver maple, 

 which were planted two years later. 

 The sugar tree, 8 years old, is 20 feet 

 high and 131/2 inches girth— a far better 

 tree, yet not quite so large a girth— 

 than any of the soft maples. All these 

 have had the same care, and practically 

 the same cultivation. 



It pays to do things right. 



Plant the Eucalyptus. 



It is a mystery why, in this climate 

 and soil, where lands are so cheap, the 

 eucalyptus or Australian blue gum tree 

 is not planted. Conditions are very sim- 

 ilar to those in California, where the 

 tree flourishes and where it is grown for 

 wood and timber at a profit. Twenty 

 acres in blue gum would be a little for- 

 tune in a few years, just for wood. — 

 Chihuahua (Mex.) Enterprise. 



Similar conditions exist in Transpe- 

 cos, Texas, and if the eucalyptus will 

 grow in Chihuahua it ought also to grow 

 here. Besides its economic value, it is a 

 stately tree and would add much to the 



beauty of the landscape. — Alpine 

 (Tex.) Avalanche. 



Arboriculture frequently urged the 

 people of Texas, Mexico, and the Gulf 

 States to plant the eucalyptus, which is 

 of rapid growth and of great value for 

 fuel and lumber. It is easily grown from 

 young, one-year plants, or from seed for 

 that matter, and in a country so desti- 

 tute of economic woods as the table- 

 lands of Mexico and the western portion 

 of Texas, land o^vners should be awaken- 

 ing to the necessity and desirability of 

 growing timber. Send to Arboricul- 

 ture for seed. 



