MONTHLY BULLETIN 



OF THE 



Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station 



VOL. V, No. 2 FEBRUARY, 1920 WHOLE No. 50 



WHAT SHADE AND ORNAMENTAL TREES 

 SHALL WE PLANT? 



Selection of Varieties, Adaptation, Planting and Care 



W. E. BONTKAGER 



Hardwood species have first choice. With the passing of 

 wintry days and the approach of the spring planting season, the 

 question of making a suitable selection of trees for beautifying the 

 lawn, street and avenue once more becomes of paramount interest 

 and importance. Well-selected hardwood trees, although in some 

 instances of slow growth f6r a few years after planting, have a 

 permanence worthy of serious consideration when the choice of 

 planting materials is being made. When once thoroughly estab- 

 lished the rate of even the slowest species becomes accelerated and 

 it is safe to assert that at the age of 25 years the oaks will approxi- 

 mate in size most other species that were planted at the same time. 

 On the grounds of the Experiment Station the oaks are becoming 

 the leading trees in a planting scheme designed and planted pri- 

 marily to illustrate the value of native planting materials. 



Nursery-grown stock quite satisfactory. True it is that such 

 trees when transplanted from a shaded spot in the forest require 

 several years in which to become established, but if nursery-grown 

 stock of the same species be utilized the results will be much more 

 speedy and satisfactory. When properly grown in the nursery, 

 young elms, oaks and maples become accustomed at an early time 

 to having the direct sunlight on all sides and therefore are checked 

 very little when removed to their permanent quarters. The slight 

 additional cost will be much more than offset by the resulting rapid, 

 vigorous growth. The nursery-grown specimen is almost always 

 a well-furnished, stocky young tree, quite in contrast with the slen- 

 der, poorly-developed weakling brought in from some crowded 

 thicket. 



(35) 



