i8g6. 



GARDENING. 



5i 



TREE NEWLY PLANTED. 

 PRUNED AND BOXED 



RED OAK THREE YEARS 

 AFTER PLANTING. 



comparatively exempt from this pest, 

 which prefers foreign elms, and where 

 these exist the beetle is likely to be on 

 hand. Spraying with arsenic mixtures, 

 Paris green or London purple will destroy 

 the beetles, and the limited amount of 

 earth surface around the stems in cities, 

 is not favorable for their hibernation. 



The American Linden is a fine tree of 

 lofty, spreading habit, and requires plenty 

 of room, also must have good soil and 

 ample feeding range, to maintain vigor, 

 in poor soil it becomes a sorrowful look- 

 ing object during dry summers. 



The Sycamore or Plane tree also 

 ranks as a large growing tree, but it is 

 well fitted for street planting, as also is 

 the foreign species which is rather more 

 compact in growth. Although naturally 

 the plane tree is of wide spreading and 

 uncouth growth, no tree responds so 

 readily to pruning into any desired shape. 

 Large and old trees may have all branches 

 cut off within a few feet of their main 

 stems, and will send out shoots with 

 great regularity and become pyramids of 

 verdure. 



The Scarlet Oak is a fast growing 

 tree and one of much beauty; of bright 

 green summer foliage, and fine scarlet col- 

 oring in autumn. 



Other oaks of special merit for street 

 planting are the pin oak and willow- 

 leaved oak. These have been too much 

 overlooked in all kinds of ornamental 

 planting in parks and avenues. 



The Gingko tree. I predict this as a 

 coming street tree which will become 



popular as its value becomes known. 

 There are several fine lines of it in this 

 city. The plants have heretofore been 

 scarce, but this n ed not much longer be 

 a drawback, as many of the older trees 

 throughout the country produce fruit 

 freely, and they are easily raised from 

 seed. 



planting. 



In most cases the necessary grading of 

 streets will involve either cutting down 

 or filling up, so that the original surface 

 is rendered unavailable for tree roots; it 

 then becomes necessary to present each 

 tree with a sufficient quantity of good 

 soil to enable it to make a good start in 

 life. Holes 8 feet in length, 2 or more feet 

 in width and 2 feet in depth should be 

 prepared by excavating and removing 

 the contents, substituting good soil in its 

 place. The soil needs to be rather dry 

 when filling, and well packed by placing 

 it in thin layers and tramping it solidly; 

 no manure or undecomposed organic 

 matter should be mixed in the soil. This 

 sized hole, thus filled with good soil, will 

 insure a good growth for six years or more, 

 and, unless the surrounding soil is very 

 bad indeed, the roots will extend into it 

 and so maintain tree growth for an 

 indefinite time. 



distance apart. 



It is a mistake to plant trees too closely 

 together on streets. The larger growing 

 tree* such as elm, linden, silver maple and 

 sycamores should be set at least 50 feet 

 apart. The Norway maple and those of 



similar growth may be set 35 feet apart, 

 and this is quite close enough for any 

 kind of street tree, and as too much shade 

 close to dwellings is a great evil and 

 injurious to health, no trees should be 

 nearer a building than 20 feet; 30 feet 

 would be safer. The aim in street plant- 

 ing should be to shade the sidewalks and 

 promenades, rather than that of shading 

 dwelling houses. 



preparing trees for planting. 



In cities where the setting of trees is to 

 be prosecuted systematically, so as to 

 keep pace with the extension of streets, a 

 tree nursery should be established. This 

 will prove economical in many ways; 

 only the kinds required may be propa- 

 gated, and the young plants will be com- 

 pletely under control as to transplanting; 

 in the nurser\ r once before removal, thus 

 preparing them for successful transplant- 

 ing; they ean also receive suchpruniuff as 

 may be deemed essential, the main object 

 being to secure a well-defined central stem, 

 removing, from time to time, such side 

 branches as appear likely to dispute in 

 vigor of growth, with the central leading 

 shoot. It is seldom necessary to prune 

 the leading shoot, and special care must 

 be given not to shorten it beyond the 

 current year's growth. In street trees 

 the removal of side branches is necessary, 

 otherwise they would interfere with the 

 use of the sidewalks and streets; from six 

 to eight feet of a clear stem will be re- 

 quired; this in some measure weakens the 

 body of the tree, and diminishes its resist- 

 ing powers, especially during the first 

 decade after planting, when a heavy foli- 

 aged top has to be supported by a rela- 

 tively slender stem, but this is unavoida- 

 ble with city trees. 



planting the trees. 



As a matter of course, trees should be 

 taken out of the nursery grounds with 

 care, securing as many of the strongest 

 roots as practicable; small fibry roots are 

 not of value, as they soon decay, and new 

 growths push from the older and firmer 

 portions of the older roots, so that the 

 instructions frequently given relative to 

 saving fibry roots have no merit worthy 

 of notice. 



In ordinary planting, a tree should not 

 be set deeper in the ground than merely 

 to cover the upper tier of roots with two 

 or three inches of soil; but in setting them 

 in paved or concreted sidewalks and 

 streets they should be set somewhat 

 deeper, not so as to bury the stem more 

 than three or four inches, but all the 

 roots should be slightly bent downwards 

 so as to prevent surface rooting which 

 disturbs bricks and concrete, and becomes 

 a source of great annoyance to pedes- 

 trians. 



It is also worthy of attention, when 

 planting a line of street to confine the 

 trees to one kind as far as the line ex- 

 tends, as a variety of forms and growths 

 in a planting of this kind onlv>- tends to 

 an unpleasing confusion of irregularity. 



When the tree is set it should receive 

 protection against accidents and as a 

 means of support, by a wooden box. 

 The box should be about six feet in height, 

 made of strips three inches in width and 

 one inch in thickness; these are fastened 

 to square frames made of heavier mate 

 rial, one near the bottom and one near 

 the top; the bottom frame is sixteen 

 inches square, and the top frame twelve 

 inches square. The box is fastened when 

 set by driving four stakes in the ground, 

 one at each side, in a slanting direction, 

 well nailed to the box. The tree is fas- 

 tened by straps of leather passed round 

 its stem, and nailed to the top frame; 



