i8g6. 



GARDENING. 



371 



GROUP O? YUCCA TRECULBANA AT PRUITLANU AUGUSTA. GA. 



seed is difficult to procure and this may 

 account for the scarcity of this plant 

 being found undercultivation. Owing to 

 its robust constitirtion it can doubtless 

 be successfully cultivated farther north 

 than any species of the arborescent type. 

 P.J. Berckmans. 



Fruitland, near Augusta, Ga., .\ugust 

 11,1896. 



[In a private letter accompanying the 

 photograph from which our illustration 

 was engraved, Mr. Berckmans tells us 

 "The conifer standing on the left is a 

 magnificent specimen oijiiniperiis ohlonga 

 pendtila now nearly 30 feet high." What 

 a splendid tree it must be! It is an ele- 

 gant evergreen tree in the south, and as 

 beautiful as a shrub in the north where it 

 also is hardy, but more slow growing 

 than in Georgia. There is a fine specimen 

 of it at Dosoris. — Ed.] 



BEST TREES FOR STREET FLflNTINO. 



No kind of tree can be recommended as 

 the best for planting in the streets or 

 suburbs of any town or city regardless of 

 the local circumstances in any given case. 

 If the region under consideration be the 

 northern states north of the Potomac 

 and Ohio, and east of the Mississippi, the 

 conditions of soil and climate, or of cult- 

 ure and environment differ so widely that 

 the best tree for one section may be the 

 worst for another. Yet, under good care 

 and culture two or more species of maple, 

 elm, linden, oak and poplar have been 

 used for street planting with fair success 

 in all of this great range of territory. 



In the eastern states the sugar maple, 

 the Norway maple, the ail-Tntiis, and the 



sycamore or plane, are among our best 

 street trees but none of these are satis- 

 factory in the western states. On the 

 other hand the ashleaved maple, the 

 catalpa, the white ash and the walnut 

 succeed best in the west. The white 

 maple, the American and the European 

 elms, and the cottonwoodare grown suc- 

 cessfully in both sections. 



These trees with the exception of the 

 walnut have numerous fibrous roots, and 

 are used in preference to those of the nut 

 bearing sorts because they are so easily 

 transplanted, even when of considerable 

 size. The horse chesniits and the lindens 

 are often selected for this reason. The 

 red, the black and the scarlet oaks also 

 thrive well in our streets, if they can be 

 protected until well established, but to do 

 well they must be set out so young 

 and special provision must be given to 

 guard them from injury. .\ tree bo.\ is of 

 no use if a horse can reach the leading 

 branches above it. Wire netting cannot 

 be readily applied until the stem is four 

 inches in diameter, and the lowest branch 

 eight feet high. 



Few realize the constant liability to 

 danger and destruction to which young 

 trees in streets are exposed by the gnaw- 

 ing of horses, or the pranks of mischie- 

 vous boys. Some idea of it may begained 

 by inspecting the trees in any town on any 

 given street, and noting how few show 

 no sign of stunted growth, scarred trunk, 

 or mutilated branches. The trees are also 

 constantly exposed to damage by thccut- 

 ting of trenches across their roots for 

 sewers, gas pipes, water pipes, or bj' 

 changes of sidewalk lineor grade. T'nder 

 ordinary citv conditions the trees suflcr 



constantly from lack ot moisture because 

 the hard ground sheds most of the rain- 

 fall, from poison by gas escaping at the 

 roots, or from dust and soot choking the 

 pores of the leaves. This unhealthy con- 

 dition invites grubs and borers, caterpil- 

 lars, scale and fungus. 



But probably the lack of vigorous 

 growth so common in street trees is most 

 commonly due to the barrenness of the 

 soil; in gradmg the street the soil and sub- 

 soil are often removed to such an extent 

 that the hole in which the tree was 

 planted had been dug in hardpan, or in a 

 sub-stratum equally sterile In such cases 

 the quantity of poor subsoil that ought 

 to be dug out and of good soil substituted 

 is seldom fully appreciated. In such con- 

 ditions a hole ten to fifteen feet wide and 

 three feet deep should be excavated, the 

 bottom and sides loosened with the pick 

 as deep as possible and the hole filled with 

 rich loam. 



.\nother common error is to plant too 

 near the curb line and the trees too near 

 each other. The roots should be given a 

 chance to spread on all sides. Close plant- 

 ing may look best for a few years, but 

 the spread of the branches at maturity 

 ought to be allowed for. Forty feet apart 

 is the least that should be given, and even 

 fifty feet is none too much for trees of the 

 largest class. A distance ot five to ten 

 feet back from the curb line is desirable 

 both for protection from horses and for 

 root space. Sometimes we see street 

 trees planted twenty or twentv-five feet 

 apart, with two kinds of trees alternat- 

 ing. These were probably planted for im- 

 mediate effect with the intention of cut- 

 ting out the poorer of the two kinds when 



