156 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 170. 



too small for street planting, not being so well adapted to street con- 

 ditions as larger ones ranging from IJ to 3 or 4 inches in diameter. More- 

 over, by using larger trees one can obtain a better idea of their future 

 development and configuration. 



The life cycles of trees are by no means identical even in the same 

 species. The conditions which a certain species seems to require at one 

 period of its existence are less suitable for another period, especially as 

 regards soil requirements for root development, older trees appearing to 

 tolerate certain conditions better than younger ones. Young trees 5 to 

 6 feet high will often fail to grow for some years after transplanting under 

 the poor conditions often prevailing on streets, while larger ones will 

 start immediately to grow. 



Much more attention should be given to the type of tree transplanted 

 than is generallj'^ given. The same species varies greatly in different 



localities. Lopsided elms should be 



avoided, and only those selected which 

 possess a habit of growth calculated to 

 produce a desirable type. It is worth 

 while to secure elms from those localities 

 where the most perfect types abound. 



In localities where much desirable native 

 material exists this can be used to ad- 

 vantage for street planting, and if care- 

 fully handled it will prove successful. 

 Native material, or that gathered from 

 the fields, however, is much improved by 

 nursery conditions, and two or three years 

 under such conditions are desirable when 

 utilizing native stock. 



Most competent authorities recommend 



planting a few trees well rather than 



many poorly, and when one recalls the 



large amount of poor planting seen around 



dwellings, and the weak-looking specimens of trees and shrubs, this advice 



will appear pertinent. 



Town funds^ do not always allow the appropriation of a large sum of 

 money for transplanting trees, and one must do the best he can with the 

 conditions under which he has to labor. Special attention, therefore, 

 should be given to the adaptability of certain species to the conditions 

 at hand, since the cost of extensive preparation and soil modification is 

 too often- beyond the funds allowed for this purpose. The advice given 

 by Olmsted Brothers, landscape architects, in one of their reports, regard- 

 ing the planting of elms, is to the point : — 



Fig. 18. —A state highway speci- 

 men of elm worthless for future 

 development. 



1 During the year 1914, 12,498 trees were planted by tree wardens in 58 cities and towns in 

 Massachusetts. 



