PLANTING STREETS AND AVENUES. 79 



shapes. It will not do to press this point too far, but it 

 should have careful thought. We have all seen strik- 

 ingly beautiful rows of the very formal Lombardy pop- 

 lar, and the effect of dignity given by an avenue of 

 palms leaves an impression not to be forgotten. 



The American elm is doubtless the commonest 

 street tree in America. It has many undeniably good 

 qualities to recommend it. The grounds about Harvard 

 and Yale could not possibly spare their rows of elms, 

 and there are hundreds of other streets in all parts of 

 the country which would be desolate indeed if all the 

 elms had to go. And yet there are serious objections to 

 the elm as a street tree, besides the fact that it is often 

 defoliated by caterpillars of various species, as, indeed, 

 are many other trees. The elm varies greatly in size 

 and form, and it is almost impossible to find a long 

 street of old elms which does not suffer from the sad 

 lack of uniformity which this variability introduces. 

 The elm is, also, one of the least formal of our trees, 

 and so detracts from the unity of the geometrical idea 

 in street planting. It would be silly to advise j^lanters 

 to discard the elm altogether ; but it will not be too 

 much to suggest that some other species should always 

 be duly considered. 



The mai:>les are excellent street trees, especially the 

 sugar maple, and many admirable examples of their 

 effectiveness are to be found in the northern states. 

 Tiie sugar maple is a strong, healthy grower, with a 

 regular, clear-cut outline, and has the advantage of a 

 very tidy appearance through the winter months. In 

 southwestern states the soft maple, or silver maple (Acer 

 dcmjcarpum), takes the place of the sugar maple, but is 

 not so good a tree. 



The American sycamore is one of our finest street 

 trees in many situations. Anyone who does not know 

 how beautiful this species is should study the effects pro- 



