THE LANDSCAPE GARDENEIi IN THE COUNTRY. 357 



Manj' of the smaller places of the state can now, at slight expense, 

 bring about some such revolution in localities that will in the 

 future years require much larger expenditures in the interests of 

 public healtli and morality if neglected. It is a fact too often over- 

 looked that the tracts best adapted for parks are fre<|uently the ones 

 which threaten to become nuisances in their present conditions. 



Street trees are prime factors in village improvements, but it can- 

 not be neceasar}' here to go into methods of handling- them in de- 

 tail; but we cannot emphasize too strongly to the general public that 

 success in transplanting demands good trees, good soil in large 

 <iuantities, care in setting and then watchful protection against 

 droughts and dangers both from man and beast. It may involve 

 considerable labor on your part, but future generations will bless 

 you for it. 



Do not set the trees too closely; a distance of forty feet for large 

 trees will be about right; above all, don't trust to future thinning 

 out, for no one will have the nerve to do it. 



The essentials of a good street tree are perfect health in adverse 

 circumstances, upright growth, not branching lower than eight or 

 ten feet, and long life. 



"The Tree Planting and Fountain Society,"' of Brooklyn, N. Y., re- 

 cently sent circulars to most of the leading landscape gardeners 

 and nurserymen of the East asking for short lists of species suit- 

 able for street planting, and there was a surprising variance in their 

 replies. Many of those specified would be useless here, but one or 

 two facts may be of interest. The hard maples are slightly ahead, 

 followed by the elm, which, however,is pronounced useless by some 

 in the vicinity of New York and Philadelphia on account of a for- 

 eign leaf-beetle which has reached our shores, with a name which 

 I will leave with Prof. Lugger to pronounce and a constitution 

 apparently as ironclad as the name, for it is fast destroying all eima, 

 wild or cultivated, in spite of all preventatives. It is to be hoped 

 that it will not come in this direction, but doubtless it will be well 

 to be on the lookout for it. 



Oaks, especially of the so-called black oak class, with spring 

 leaves and retiuiring two years to mature their acorns, have many 

 friends, and with proper nursing treatment when young and trans- 

 I)lanted wlien ten to twelve feet higli are said to be verj- hardy and 

 vigorous, and our own woodlands, especially in autuiim, proclaim 

 them to be most beautiful trees. 



Several varieties not often used for the purpose are also recom- 

 mended, among them the laurel-leaf willow and wild cherry; the 

 Kentucky coffee-tree is also mentioned, and in the southern part of 

 Minnesota, where it is found native might be of value, as it is a 

 stately tree with almost tropical foliage. 



The best results here have doubtless so far been obtained with the 

 white elm, followed by the ash, and the linden when unmolested 

 by insects and protected when young from sun-scald, which is the 

 great enemy of all smooth-barked trees. Of the smaller trees, the 

 hackberry and the box elder are commonly seen, while the pioneer's 

 tree, cottonwood, is almost invtilnerable, and by setting only 



