THE SECEETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 247 



BEST FIVE DECIDUOUS TREES. 



All may not agree with Samuel Parsons in his selection of five deciduous 

 trees for ornamental purposes, as given in Kural New Yorker, but we must 

 admit his reasons are carefully given : 



The Noewat Maple — Acer plaicmoides. That I should pass over the 

 American elm, the sugar maple, and the white and pin oaks may surprise some ; 

 but I choose the Norway maple because it is a richly endowed tree in all ways, 

 both practical and ornamental. It is not only beautiful with its large, shad- 

 owy, rich green foliage piled in broad, rounded masses; but it has excellent 

 every-day qualities in the way of hardiness in all exposures, moderate and yet 

 vigorous growth, and above all a regular, healthy habit that retains it many 

 years in shapeliness and beauty with little or no pruning. One scarcely ever 

 sees the Norway maple exhibiting its full beauty on the lawn, because it is 

 scarcely ever allowed to grow branches from the very ground upward. People 

 have an unfortunate fancy for trimming up lawn trees. If left to itself the 

 Norway maple spreads out into a globe of massive green foliage of the most 

 unique and imposing character. It is, moreover, an excellent shade tree on 

 wide avenues, for it needs room to spread abroad its massive foliage. 



Wheatley's Exglisii Elm — Ulmus campesiris Wheatleyii. It will doubt- 

 less seem strange to many that I should pass over the American elm for an 

 English elm, when it is well known that the English elm is not popular in 

 America; but remember I am selecting lawn trees and not street trees. The 

 American elm is somewhat coarse and too spreading in habit to suit a place of 

 only an acre in extent. As an element of landscape gardening effect, the 

 European eim is invaluable for the picturesque way in which a mature tree piles 

 rounded masses of foliage one upon the other. It is lofty, too, and even spirey 

 on occasion. This Wheatley's elm, for instance, will grow six feet during the 

 first two years after grafting, which is no bad growth for any elm. Then the 

 American elm loses its leaves early in autumn, while Wheatley's elm holds its 

 foliage particularly late. The foliage of the latter is rich and effective and the 

 form erect and pyramidal. It is, indeed, in many respects, only an excellent 

 variety of the ordinary English elm, but its excellence is so great that I 

 believe it fully worthy of the high rank I have given it. We neglect these 

 European elms on our lawns unjustly. 



The Purple Beech — Facjus sijlvatica atro-jnirjnirca. All kinds of beeches 

 are alike beautiful in foliage, branching, and trunk formation. They are 

 slow-growing, long-lived, and richly and even exquisitely endowed in every 

 way. Their shade is unsurpassed, and they frequently hold their foliage far 

 into December. The purple beech, however, is shapely, pyramidal, and some- 

 times spreading, — an elegant and stately tree. It is unquestionably the most 

 attractive purple-leaved tree known on our lawns. The variety, Kivers's Pur- 

 ple, is the richest in coloring, and in May and June the young growth, seen 

 against the sun, fairly glows with the most splendid rosy tints. 



The Weepiis'g Beech — Excellence of form rather than special beauty of 

 foliage characterizes this tree, although the leaves of all beeches are very beau- 

 tiful. Tiie behavior of the brandies of the weeping beech is literally wonder- 

 ful. They curve and weep in every shape imaginable, and reach up and down 

 and about in the most grotesque, and yet graceful manner. Always beautiful, 

 the weeping beech is now merely pointed and drooping, and again entirely 

 cathedral-like and spreading — altogether the most splendidly endowed orna- 

 mental tree on the lawn. 



