THE BLACK BIRCH vs. THE TULIP TEEE. 



account of its reddish brown bark. It would make a fine tree for lawns, were it not 

 for its disposition to throw up suckers, which it does not seem to have when planted 

 in the street. I set some fourteen years since, one of which is three feet four inches 

 in circumference, and over thirty feet high. 



THE BLACK BIRCH, vs. THE TULIP TREE. 



BY ELI MOORE, SOUTHINGTON, CONN. 



"The fragrant birch above him hung 

 Her tassels iu the sky." — Bryant. 



In the August number of the Horticulturist., I noticed an article entitled " Shade 

 Trees in Cities," and headed, " Down with the Ailantus ;" on which the writer (who 

 I suppose to be the late A. J. Downing,) seems disposed to encourage the plantino- of 

 more of our native forest trees in preference to those of foreign production, and it is a 

 feeling in which I strongly sympathise ; but among the trees enumerated I see no 

 mention of the black birch, which is one of my favorite trees, and which I think holds 

 a high rank in our forests, and is deserving the attention of every horticulturist. The 

 beauty of its foliage from the time it first " hangs its tassels in the sky," to the end 

 of summer, when its numerous and stately branches with its dense mass of fibrous 

 boughs, and its still thicker mass of beautiful leaves, through which the rays of the 

 sun cannot penetrate, its neat appearance, its cleanly habits, together with its sweet 

 fragrance, render it to my taste, one of the most inviting shades in the American forest. 



There is a cry raised in my neighborhood, " Down with the tulip tree ;" but I say, 

 " Woodman, spare that tree." Norman Porter and Roswell Moore, both of 

 Berlin, make serious complaint of the filthy habits of this tree, rendering every thino- 

 dingy and even black for several yards around it, and say they must cut it down. I 

 plead for it " yet a little longer," endeavoring to persuade them " not to hack it down ;" 

 for whether it is owing to some obnoxious insect which it invites, (as appears to be 

 the case,) which might be exterminated, or to peeuliar seasons, to location, proximity 

 to buildings, especially to white, or whether it is its nature to shed this blight from 

 its own foliage, is a question which you probably or some of your correspondents can 

 answer. Please enlighten your readers upon the subject. 



The common soft maple is another beautiful tree, and for most grounds it appears 

 to me it has not received that attention it deserves. It makes an excellent shade for 

 man or beast, and what more beautiful than its foliage, its flowers in the spring, and 

 its leaves in autumn ! There are seasons in the year I would gladly have my house 

 surrounded with them in one dense forest, with the red-winged blackbird among their 

 branches, pouring forth its melodious strains, giving place occasionally only to the 

 fragrant birch. 



Since writing the above I have seen several articles on the subject of shade trees, 

 and various kinds of forest trees named as being worthy of transplanting, and the 

 black birch not among them. I think it deserving of more notice. 



