366 



ARBORICULTURE 



Beautiful Trees at Peoria, Illinois 



At Peoria, Illinois, the earlier settlers 

 used much greater judgment in planting 

 trees than their successors have done. 

 There are very many fine old maple su- 

 gar trees on private grounds and upon 

 the city streets; a majority of the trees of 

 earlier planting are elms, hard maple, 

 hackberry and similar trees of good 

 character. 



Upon the highlands in the newer ad- 

 dition the managers have set cotton- 

 w^ood almost exclusively. The result in 

 a dozen more years will be treeless 

 streets. As the sewers become clogged 

 with Carolina poplar roots and the ugly 

 decrepit condition which they will fall 

 into, shall arouse the lot owners who 

 are building fine residences here; these 

 things will be chopped down and the 

 residents must begin anew to plan 

 trees for shade and ornament. 



There are some very handsome parks, 

 with excellent trees which will give 

 still greater satisfaction as time goes by. 



It is unfortunate here as in thousands 

 of other localities, that so many of the 

 Catalpa trees, and that is almost all of 

 them, are of the worst scrub character. 

 Yet all have been purchased and plant- 

 ed with the full belief that they were 

 Catalpa speciosa. 



Some of Peoria's trees on upland ter- 

 race are very wide, 1 00 feet, and have a 

 central parking of grass. In some of 

 these, trees have been planted with 

 flow^ering shrubs intermediate between 

 the trees. 



Quite a number of fine Honey Locust 

 trees, entirely free from thorns, are 

 found about the Bradley Polytechnic 

 School on West Heights, These are 

 very desirable shade trees. 



In the South, w^here streets are df suf- 

 ficient width, the spreading Live Oak 

 could be placed in this middle ground 



Catalpa Speciosa, as a Park Tree, 

 Riverside Park, Chicago, Ills. 



with a roadway on either side, still hav- 

 ing room for a fine row of Water Oak 

 or other shade trees alongside the foot 

 path. These in Peoria are 25 feet w^ide 

 from the land or lot line to the curb, 

 the foot path or sidewalk proper being 

 5 feet v/ide. 



Hackberry. 



(Celtis Occidentalis. ) 



There are several reasons for plant- 

 ing the hackberry. Among the more 

 important, being its production of food 

 for birds which should be encouraged 

 to assist in keeping various injurious 



insects in check. 



How^ever, the tree is a very beautiful 



one, with handsome foliage, hardy 



