93 



Mr. Drury. — We plant maples in our part, on account of their assuming such a 

 beautiful shape in a few years. We also plant the spruce and the white pine. 



Mr. Bucke. — The great trouble in planting roadside trees is the cattle. Until we 

 can get some law passed to prevent cattle running at lai-ge, it is difficult to prevent the 

 cattle rubbing them down. I look upon the subject of tree planting as depending entirely 

 on the cattle question. 



Mr. Dempsey. — I fully endorse what the secretary says respecting the elm. In some 

 of the Eastern States they use the elm, and they are certainly all that we need desire 

 for a roadside tree. I have seen the white bark birch planted on the roadsides. It cer- 

 tainly is a very pretty tree — attains a very graceful and beautiful form, and I think it is 

 much prettier than the maple, particularly the hard maple. The soft maple makes a rapid 

 growth, and it is a very pretty tree for the roadside. Where the black walnut grows 

 alone it appears to attain too much of a spreading habit. I presume it could be trimmed 

 up. Speaking of the elm again, I believe that on the front of Sidney, in the County of 

 Hastings, they have one shade tree in a distance of about twelve miles. They deserve 

 thanks for leaving that. That elm spreads farther than the width of the room, and I 

 have driven under it frequently when I have been out on that road in the summer — it is 

 a very hot road — and I have enjoyed a rest there very much. And I presume my horse 

 has enjoyed it more than I have. Any one who has ever stopped to rest in the shade of a 

 tree like that can certainly appreciate the value of the elm. 



Mr. Drury. — There is no doubt that in the absence of a stock law in this country 

 the planting of trees on the roadside will be very rare indeed. As a matter of fact, if one 

 municipality takes a stand against cattle running at large, the adjoining municipality may 

 not take the sauie view of it. And in that way the measure of the first municipality may 

 be rendered abortive. In our part of the country we have a few very nice drives, that 

 have been made by a little care in the clearing up, by parties taking the trouble to throw 

 the brush back and leave the trees in a line. Speaking of the country as a whole, it is 

 almost impossible to say what tree is the best for roadside planting. I think we must 

 first have a stock law, and then I believe there will be a desire on the part of municipali- 

 ties, as well as on the part of individuals, to beautify our roads by planting trees. 



Mr. Page. — I prefer for the roadside either elm or maple ; but, as has been said by 

 former speakers, it is useless to talk about planting shade trees on the roadside while the 

 cattle are running at large. 



Mr. Gott — There are three or four kinds of maple that are very valuable. The 

 only objection to planting it is that the roots spread so far in the soil. But it is a very 

 beautiful tree. Our basswood tree for roadside planting is not only ornamental but use- 

 ful. The chestnut tree would also make a very beautiful shade tree. It is both useful 

 and ornamental likewise. So also is the hickory. The Lombardy poplar and the iron wood 

 tree are beautiful trees for our roadsides. 



GENERAL DISCUSSION ON TREES. 



Mr Beadle. — With regard to trees for towns and cities, the best growing tree, and 

 the one which has been the most popular on that account, is the silver-leafed maple. It 

 is sometimes called the soft maple, but there are other soft maples. The botanical name 

 is Acer dasycarpum. It grows so fast that sometimes the branches split during high winds, 

 and I have found it necessary to take the saw or the pruning knife to the trees and 

 held them back so as to make them grow more compactly. If this were not such a fast 

 ago, and we were not in such a hurry to have shade trees, I would prefer the sugar maple. 

 It is a more cleanly tree, if possible, than the silver maple. It does not sprawl so much ; it 

 has a brighter and closer foliage, and, I think, is more symmetrical and beautiful to the 

 eye. If you ask me what tree I would take next to that I get puzzled. There are 

 several trees. There is a tree that we call the ash-leafed maple. It is not a maple ; it is 

 not an ash. Botanists have put it under the head of Negundo aceroides. It is a hardy 

 tree — I suppose a more hardy tree than the sugar maple. It will grow as far north as 



