THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. 



The following parties, approved by the Council, were elected 

 to annual membership : Chas. ]\Iallory, Mortimer L. Schiff, 

 George Giatras, John C. Haddock. 



There being no other business to come before the meeting, the 

 lecture announced for the day was delivered by Mr. Wm. 

 Solotaroff, on " Shade Trees in Cities," illustrated with lantern 

 slides. Mr. Solotaroff is connected with the Shade Tree Com- 

 mission of East Orange, N. J., and gave an interesting and in- 

 structive talk on the subject. The following is an abstract of 

 this lecture : 



The speaker opened his remarks by saying that upon the arrival here of 

 the early settlers in this country, the first idea had been to procure a shelter 

 and obtain ground for the raising of crops. These being the main and 

 essential things, the preservation of trees, in the laying out of their villages 

 and towns, had not been considered of importance. This habit, thus 

 engendered, had grown with the people, and it was only comparatively 

 recently that the necessity of trees in cities has been appreciated. For the 

 city is not only a place of commerce, but it is largely made up of homes, 

 and anything which adds to its beauty, which trees certainly do, increases 

 the value of its property. The tree therefore as an essential thing in the 

 city is being recognized, and it is also becoming evident that the trees in 

 a city must not be left to the care of the individual, but must be placed 

 under the charge of the city itself. If left to the individual there will be 

 many kinds of trees on the same street, a condition usually to be avoided; 

 they will be planted in different ways and at unequal distances ; the prun- 

 ing will not be properly done, nor the trees systematically treated for 

 insect and fungus pests. To insure uniformity in the planting of trees 

 and their proper maintenance after planting, it is necessary to place the 

 whole matter under official control. In cities where this has been done 

 for many years, notably, for example, in Washington, D. C, the results 

 are most satisfactory. To secure this uniform result the street must be 

 treated as a unit, that is, only one species of tree must be employed, and 

 the pruning must be done with a definite aim in view — to provide shade 

 without obstructing the sidewalks or roadways, interfering with the view, 

 or preventing the free circulation of the air. 



New Jersey was the pioneer state of the Union in the successful appli- 

 cation of vesting this power in a central body, and in 1893 that state 

 enacted a law for the planting and care of shade trees. There are now 15 

 cities in New Jersey which have shade tree commissions. So successful 

 have these commissions been that other states and cities have followed 

 the example thus set them, the state of Pennsylvania enacting a similar 

 law in 1907. 



By an act of the year 1902 of the laws of the state of New York, the 

 jurisdiction of the park board of Greater New York was extended to the 



61 



