]20 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



side of the leaves ; and as they do not consume much at this period, and are- 

 more liable to the attacks of their enemies, it maj' be found profitable tO' 

 I'ear them during the first stage indoox'S upon cut branches or young trees 

 in pots. 



A GOOD WORD FOR THE AILANTHUS. 



This tree (^4. glandidosus), taken from Japan to Europe in 1851, and for 

 a long time supposed to be a sumac and known as the Japan Varnish tree,. 

 was first rightly described by the French botanist Desfontaines. It is now 

 grown as a shade tree all over this country and is one of the most valuable,, 

 and at the same time worst abused trees we have. A peculiar odor, remind- 

 ing one of the urine of a male cat, and quite nauseous to many persons, attaches 

 to the staminate flowers, and in a slight degree to the leaves and the rest of 

 the tree. This odor is even fiiintly communicated to the silkworm which 

 feeds upon it; and is the cause of the prejudice which many have against the 

 tree; it is never disagi-eeable in the open air, except during the floweiing 

 season, and may be entirely avoided by growing only the female or pistil- 

 late tree, or b}' clipping off the blossoms of the staminate ti'ee. The advan- 

 tages of the Ailanthus so far outbalance this one obnoxious feature that I con- 

 sider it one of the most valuable shade trees we have. Growing freely in^ 

 chalk3",sandy, or clayey — in the poorest or the richest soil ; defiant of city 

 smoke or prolonged drought; wonderfully free from insect injuries; easily 

 propagated by root or seed ; a rapid grower, with a gracelul semi-tropical ajv 

 pearance — it is quite undeserving of the abuse that has been heaped upon it. 

 Away out on the plains on the Kauf^as Pacific railroad, where tree-planting 

 is yet an experiment, Mr. R. S. Elliot has had excellent success with it, and 

 I was never more fiivorably impressed with it than iti passing through the 

 thronged streets of New York and Brookljni last summer. There it was^ 

 on ever}' side, presenting its fresh rich foliage to the eye, and giving ele- 

 gance to the streets where all other trees either failed or looked unhealthy. 

 During the excessive drought of the past year, it held its own in our own 

 city of St. Louis better than all other trees; and when it finall}" shed its 

 leaves, they formed a welcome and nourishing morsel to the hungry cattle 

 who at that time found little else- to browse upon. The female tree may 

 always be secured by root propagation and is not onl}^ free from the nause- 

 ous odor^ but grows more sj-mmetrically than the male, and when laden 

 with its large seed-bunches, tinted with shades of yellow, orange and crimson,. 

 it is really beautiful. The Ailanthus is said to imjjoverish the ground and 

 is supposed to furnish the best food for the worms when grown on a chalk}',, 

 or limestone soil. 



