SHADE, LAWN, AND PARK TREES. 335 



arid other popular trees. About all the oaks offered by 

 the New York nurseries do well east of the lakes. But at 

 the West it is best to plant the native species, such as the 

 white, bur, chestnut, and pin oaks. Where not obtainable 

 in nurseries, it is far better to plant the acorns in mellow 

 soil than to transplant young trees from their native 

 localities. In practice It has been found that the seedling 

 that throws its tap-root down where the tree is to stand 

 will, in fifteen years, far excel in size and thrift even the 

 nursery-grown tree set at same time four to five years 

 old. 



The most rapid-growing, handsome oak with deeply cut 

 leaves known to the writer is the type of Quercus pedunc- 

 ulata, grown on the bluffs of the Volga in Russia. Trees 

 grown from acorns of this species twenty years ago are 

 now fine trees, bearing annual crops of long, slim acorns 

 that sway in the wind on stems four inches long. But the 

 Western chestnut oak (Quercus prinuft) on rich soil is 

 about equal to it in growth, but not in ornamental foliage. 

 Red oak (Quercus rubrd) also makes rapid growth on rich 

 soil, and its foliage is handsome and richly colored in 

 autumn. 



321. The Oleasters. What is known at the West as wild 

 olive or oleaster (Elc&agnus angustifolia) is hardy from the 

 lakes west to Colorado and northwest to Manitoba. This 

 species or variety differs materially from the E. hortensis 

 of Eastern nurseries, which is not hardy at the West. In 

 the prairie States the E. angustifolia makes a round-topped 

 tree twenty-five feet in height and its dense crop of silvery- 

 colored leaves make a good shade. But the hortensis is 

 much smaller in growth, with less dense habit and less 

 fragrant flowers. The angustifolia can be used to advan- 

 tage in grouping and also in places as a single specimen. 

 Its roots develop nitrogen in the soil, like the legumes, 



