CHAPTER IX 

 CARE IN THE CHOICE OF PLANT MATERIAL 



'LTHOUGH this book is not designed to be a 

 guide in the laying out and planting of grounds, 

 it seemed nevertheless germane and desir- 

 able to add a chapter on the selection of plant 

 material, inasmuch as the after-care is to some extent influ- 

 enced by the original choice of trees. Much trouble can be 

 avoided in caring for trees, if the right kinds of trees have 

 been planted, since, as we have seen, the different species 

 are more or less Hable to damage by insect pests, fungi, 

 and other injury, are more or less resistant, are more or less 

 hardy, more or less adaptable to unfavorable situations, 

 more or less easily kept in satisfactory form and condition. 

 To be sure, if we were to plant only those which are 

 entirely free from troubles, the list would be a small one, 

 and the gratification of our tastes would be scanty. Yet 

 one should at least know what to expect by going beyond 

 this select list of the few species. 



Looking through the following enumeration we shall 

 find that, after all, a large number of species are practically 

 free from trouble, if properly placed and tended. We must, 

 however, reaHze what has been intimated in another chap- 

 ter, namely, that insect pests and infections, i.e., fungus 

 diseases, have an opportunity for spreading when the same 

 host plant is multiplied. A city of elms, for example, is 

 naturally apt to become a city of elm-beetles, the elm other- 



197 



