Canadian Forestry Journal, March, ig20 



125 



Should the Planting of Shade Trees be left to the Individual, 

 or Controlled by the City ? 



By F. E. Buck 

 Assistant to Dominion Horticulturist. 



Citizens of all classes are generally 

 agreed that the trees are one of the 

 biggest assets of a city. When any 

 city can be described as a city of 

 beautiful trees, it at once suggests 

 that such a city is noted for its beau- 

 tiful streets and homes. Cities of such 

 a type attract population on account 

 of the pleasing character of the resi- 

 dential sections. A problem which 

 has presented itself for solution dur- 

 ing the past few years is : Whether 

 the planting and care of trees in cities 

 should be undertaken by the city or 

 left to the individual householder or 

 landlord? Where this work has be?n 

 left to the individual householder, the 

 results have been in most cases un- 

 satisfactory. Individual work in such 

 matters fails to produce the best re- 

 sults for certain reasons which are 

 obvious. For instance, certain persons 

 will plant different varieties of trees 

 on adjacent properties, others will not 

 plant at all, while in some cases the 

 trees will be planted at irregular dis- 

 tances between each other, and also 

 from the sidewalk. The effect of such 

 an irregularly-planted street, when 

 compared with one properly planted, 

 is strikingly different. 



Control by the City. 



The great advantage of investing 

 one of the city departments with 

 authority to deal with tree planting 

 and control is that the mistakes re- 

 sulting from individual planting are 

 eliminated. Such points as. the choice 

 of a proper variety, the use of one 

 variety only to a street to obtain har- 

 mony and beauty, and the proper at- 

 tention to heading and pruning, arc 

 difficult points for individuals to 

 carry out harmoniously, but in tlie 

 case of some central authority, such 

 points arc carried out as the first es- 

 sential of a svstcm. 



In many large cities like Paris, 

 New York, Chicago and others, this 

 work of tree planting and care is car- 

 ried out by a Shade Tree or Parks 

 Commission. Many other cities of 

 smaller size have also, during the past 

 few years, put such work under the 

 control of a special authority. In many 

 cases this authority consists of an 

 official, variously known as City 

 Forester, Tree Warden, Street Com- 

 missioner, etc. In some cases the 

 work has been added to the City En- 

 gineer's Department. 



PERMANENT COAST FORESTS. 

 {Pacific Coast Lumberman) 



As to the present situation at the 

 Pacific Coast, opinions dift'er greatly. 

 Men like H. R. McMillan, ex-chief 

 forester, and Roland Craig, of the 

 Commission of Conservation, Ottawa, 

 claim that the growth of new timber 

 is five times the annual cut. and that 

 therefore all that is necessary is 

 ami)le fire protection to guard secure- 

 ly this satisfactory state of affairs. On 

 the other hand, practical lumbermen 

 who have travelled extensively over 

 the province during many years, hold 

 quite the contrary view. They say. 

 most emphatically, that right now the 

 growth is not sufficient to off-set the 

 steady loss from logging operations, 

 fire. Avind. insects and fungi. 



This difference of opinion should 

 be settled with some dofinitcness and 

 without delay. I'he situation is seri- 

 ous and of immediate concern, in 

 view of the fact that from now on 

 hundreds of loggers and millmen 

 from other regions will bo moving to 

 our province and to the states to the 

 south of us, in search of timber. If 

 our forests are being depleted now. 

 what will the situation be slmrtlv? 



