THE MINNESOTA 



HORTICULTURIST. 



VOL. 35. AUGUST, iqo6. No. 8 



THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF SHADE TREES. 



CHAS. M. LORING, MINNEAPOLIS. 



"Trees are indeed the glory, the beauty and the dehght of nature." — 

 Christopher North. 



"The great want of cities is trees." — Walter Crane. 



"The best poem I ever produced was the trees I planted on the hillside." 

 — Oliver Wendell Holmes. 



In 1640 the town of Hingham, Mass., passed a vote that 

 "From the date hereof thenceforth, there shall be no tree or 

 trees cut on the highway upon the pain of twenty shillings, be- 

 cause all good trees are to be preserved for the shading of cattle." 



More than 250 years have passed since this humane order 

 was adopted, and we are supposed to have advanced in civiliza- 

 tion, and yet there are many farms in this state on which there 

 i? not a tree growing to afford shade to the cattle from the fierce 

 rays of the summer sun. Notwithstanding the Pilgrims were 

 obhged to clear the forest in order to make their farms, they 

 seemed to have a higher appreciation of the economic value of 

 trees than do the majority of the farmers of today. One of the 

 significant incidents indicating the public's appreciation of the 

 value of trees was the unveiling of a monument to the memory 

 of the late J. Sterling Morton, who did so much to stimulate tree 

 planting in every section of the country, and yet "Arbor Day" 

 will be his most enduring monument. 



Street and ornamental trees form the most valuable assets 

 of many New England cities, especially those visited as pleasure 

 resorts during the summer months, and several cities spend large 

 sums of money each year for their care and preservation The 

 city of Springfield, Mass.. appropriates each year from eight to 

 ten thousand dollars for the care of its street trees, and many 

 cities have an officer or a commissioner who has exclusive care 

 of them. 



One of the problems which it has been hard for the courts to 

 solve is that relating to compensation for injury or destruction 

 of shade trees. As a rule, the damages awarded have been 

 ridiculously inadequate. In Minneapolis, one officer has made 



