FOR FARM AND HOME PLANTING 



33 



TREES 



"Among all the materials at our disposal 

 for the embellishment of country residences, 

 none are at once so highly ornamental, so 

 indispensable or so easily managed as trees 

 or wood."* 



Trees are especially valuable as screens, 

 windbreaks, backgrounds for buildings, for 

 shade and for their own individual beauty in 

 a design. By a natural arrangement of 

 trees in the improvement of the country 

 home grounds, buildings which might other- 

 wise seem bare and bald may be made in- 

 teresting and often picturesque. They 

 should be disposed around our houses in 

 groups, masses, thickets and as single trees 

 in such a manner as to rival the most beau- 

 tiful scenery of nature as well as to provide 

 all the comforts and conveniences of a rural 

 home. 



In selecting trees for home planting, 

 the following requirements should be con- 

 sidered: namely form, hardiness, adapta- 

 bility, rapidity of growth, shade production, 

 freedom from insects and diseases, neatness and general beauty. 



In purchasing trees one should obtain healthy, well shaped trees. 

 It is generally a waste of time and money to set poor, deformed trees. 

 Wild trees may be used but they are less likely to withstand the shock of 

 transplanting than those that have been previously transplanted in the 

 nursery. In purchasing shade trees, it is possible to set out trees as large 

 as a foot in diameter but the cost is so great that few can afford to trans- 

 plant trees of such size. As a rule, smaller trees transplant more success- 

 fully. Trees for street planting should be about two inches in diameter 

 and ten to twelve feet in height. 



In transplanting trees, as many roots as possible should be preserved 

 as trees with large root systems do much better than those whose roots 

 have been severely pruned. 



As the tree is purchased from the nursery, the top or crown is usually 

 already formed. This general shape of the top should be preserved in 

 pruning after transplanting. If the root system has been severely pruned, 

 it will be necessary, however, to cut back the branches of the top to 

 maintain a balance between the roots and foliage, altho it is better to 

 maintain this balance by saving the roots than by sacrificing branches. 



*Section III, Chapter on "Wood," Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape 

 Gardening. By A. J. Downing. This book was the first landscape gardening book 

 published in America and is considered one of the best at the present time. It started 

 a great popular movement toward the development of beautiful home grounds and its 

 author by his many writings and landscape gardening work exerted more influence in 

 the development of American horticulture than probably any other single figure. 



