354 



ARBORICULTURE 



be provided for by those who would 

 have success. 



It is unfortunate that because a fev/ 

 trees are so easily grown from seed or 

 cuttings, and so quickly become sale- 

 able at good profit it is the tend- 

 ency of many nurseries to grow these 

 in vast numbers and place them first 

 before the public, thus covering all our 

 city streets v^ith short lived, illy adapted 

 trees to the exclusion of all the better 

 and more permanent shade and orna- 

 mental trees. 



The Elms on Boston Common are 

 nearly two centuries old, as are also 

 numerous grand street trees of New^ 

 England. 



The Live Oaks of the South are of 

 more than a century's duration w^hile 

 all of our more desirable shade trees 

 v/ill be in existence a century after the 

 death of the planter. 



Not so with the trees w^hich are being 

 so largely planted in every American 

 City, twenty years will be the life of 

 most of them and less for many. 



Troubles of Trees in Cities. 



Taken from the w^oods w^here the 

 soil is rich, mulched w^ith decaying 

 leaves accumulations of many years, 

 shaded from scorching sun, by the 

 foliage of its fellows its roots at all 

 times finding abundant moisture; its 

 foliage protected from insect pests by 

 numerous birds; the storms of w^inter 

 broken of their power by the surround- 

 ing forest; and thence removed and 

 planted in the city w^here all its environ- 

 ments are the reverse of w^hat they w^ere 

 in the forest, the City tree has a diffi- 

 cult task to maintain an existence. 



Its roots mutilated in removal; care- 

 lessly planted in hard ground; insuffi- 

 ciently w^atered and nourished, exposed 

 to the rays of torrid sun; and to the 

 strongest w^inds of all seasons; its leaves 

 smothered v/ith smoke and dust; air and 

 moisture denied by street and sidewalk 

 pavements; its bark knocked off by ve- 

 hicle hubs and gnawed by respectable 

 citizens' horses; foliage eaten by insects, 

 sap sucked up by aphides, trunk riddled 

 by borers; branches mutilated by tele- 

 graph linemen; roots destroyed by pave- 

 ment contractors and sevv^er excava- 

 tions; the tree in the city indeed has a 



strenuous existence, and it is no won- 

 der that by far the greater majority fail 

 to grow^. The ability of trees to over- 

 come discouragement, and to grow un- 

 der very adverse conditions is remark- 

 able. Oaks, pines and other trees are 

 frequently found growing upon ledges 

 of rocks, w^here to all appearances there 

 is neither soil nor moisture, yet they 

 maintain an existence and flourish. 



But these trees have not been trans- 

 planted, they have grown from the seed, 

 and as the fine hairlike roots penetrate 

 the fissures among the rocks for great 

 distances in various directions, some of 

 them find moisture and nourishment 

 and these increase in size, forcing apart 

 the rock strata for their own accommo- 

 dation and convey the distant food to 

 the tree and thus build up its system. 



Such trees are never in a hurry, 

 they take many years, often centuries, 

 to perfect their growth, w^hile w^e in the 

 cities are not willing to wait nature's 

 methods. 



Give the trees a chance for their 

 lives if you are deserving of their shade, 

 otherwise it is folly to plant trees, but be 

 content w^ithout them. 



