34 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



tection in a shower, and which was planted many years ago. In 

 regard to the distances and thinning of trees, Mr. Hovey men- 

 tioned an instance where a neighbor had cut down two out of five 

 large elms, at what appeared to others a great sacrifice, but those 

 left now cover the whole ground, and magnolias and other trees 

 thrive near them. Mr. Hovey opposed the common idea that 

 nothing will grow near elm trees, remarking that they do not root 

 so deeply as many shrubs. He had a row of elm trees 1,100 feet 

 long, and a row of pear trees thriving within fifteen feet, though 

 not as well as if the elm trees were not there. Lilies of the valley 

 thrive under elm trees and bloom abundantly, while under the 

 dense shade of horse chestnuts not even grass will grow. He 

 had seen the sycamore leaved maple flourishing on the sea-shore in 

 Swampscott, and thought it an excellent tree for such exposed 

 places. 



Mr. Hovey next spoke of the European linden, alluding to a 

 fine row on Boston Common, the trunks of which were cracked so 

 that on a cold day the hand could be placed in the crack, but 

 when milder the crack became narrower, and during summer was 

 wholly closed. Besides this tendency to crack, an objection to the 

 linden was the aphis with which it is infested, and it was very 

 remarkable that so learned a man as Dr. Hooker supposed the 

 honey-dew caused by the aphis to be an exudation from the tree. 

 Mr. Hovey had planted a row of Scotch elms, silver maples, and 

 lindens, and camellias placed under the lindens became black 

 from exudation of the aphides, which was not the case under the 

 other trees. Until we can get rid of these in&ects the linden can 

 not be recommended. Otherwise it is a desirable tree. 



Mr. Hovey would recommend for street trees the rock maple, 

 but it is diflflcult to get of good shape, and somewhat difficult to 

 transplant. Next to the rock maple is the silver maple, the wood 

 of which, however, is soft and apt to break in high winds, and the 

 leaves are also somewhat eaten by insects. The Scotch elm re- 

 sists the canker worm, and grows compactly like the maple. He 

 would recommend the Scotch elm for narrow streets, and the 

 American elm for wide streets, boulevards, and large parks. They 

 should be of uniform shape, though this is difficult to obtain with 

 the American elm, as they run into so many varieties when raised 

 from seed. Although the limbs of the elm grow every way, it is 

 a symmetrical tree. The purple elm and Cornish elm are vevy 



