94 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1900. 



maple are perhaps the best trees we have, I feel sure that they 

 will still be used to such an extent for street planting that, for 

 variety's sake, we can introduce something else upon our home 

 grounds. The oaks, for instance, deserve much greater atten- 

 tion than they receive. The pin oak, Quercus palustris, is now 

 being used in some places for street planting ; the red oak, the 

 yellow oak and the black oak are all fine trees, symbolic of 

 strength and endurance. The white ash, Fraxinus Americana, 

 is an excellent tree, and the beech, Fagus ferruginea, is one of 

 the best, as well as one of the most sadly neglected of our 

 native trees. Its gray branches and trunk are especially attrac- 

 tive in winter, when seen against the green hemlock boughs. 

 Flowering dogwood, Gornus florida, is an attractive flat-topped 

 tree, which is a mass of snowy whiteness in May, and the foliage 

 turns a dull red color in autumn. The pepperidge, or tupelo, 

 Nyssa sylvatica, is another tree of a similar type, but it grows 

 larger. Its flowers are inconspicuous, but the autumn colors 

 are most gorgeous. The pepperidge well deserves a place in 

 the home grounds. The birches, especially the black, yellow 

 and paper birches, are excellent trees. Poplars and willows are 

 desirable when a quick growth is needed to screen some un- 

 sightly object, but they are short-lived trees and should be 

 removed as soon as more permanent trees can be grown to take 

 their places. A singular and beautiful tree is the tulip, Livio- 

 dendron, and I am glad to see it coming into favor. 



The basswood or linden has merit and is a symmetrical round- 

 headed tree, suggestive of tranquillity and rest. A small tree, 

 which we must by no means exclude from our natural border, is 

 the Shad or June-berry, Amelanchier Canadensis. It is one of 

 the earliest to blossom in the spring, and is a mass of white 

 before the leaves have expanded. 



A curious, but attractive, tree. is the honey locust, Gleditsia 

 tricanthos, with its long, sharp spines. It is a long-lived tree, 

 however, and is well worth more attention than it receives. 



The sassafras, red maple, larch, hickory and the hornbeam 

 should also be included in our list of valuable trees, but I fear 

 the list has already become too large for our plot of ground. 



