CITY TREES AND THEIR RELATION TO FORESTRY 93 



planting. This, too, is a novel feature in city tree work and offers unlimited 

 opportunities to the city forester. 



The beneficial effects of this nursery have already become evident. Citi- 

 zens and school children come to study it and the people are beginning to 

 realize that tree planting is not so expensive after all. Even where we have 

 been obliged to buy larger trees for our park planting, we have this year 

 purchased five hundred oaks and many other hardy trees two inches in diam- 

 eter at two dollars each, instead of resorting to the usual method of buying 

 larger trees at ten and twelve dollars each. The younger trees will take better 

 to the soil, can be planted at a considerably smaller expense and in the end 

 will catch up in growth with the larger specimens. 



The city forester also has an important educational value to the com- 

 munity and can make his influence strongly felt. He can best reach the 

 people on tree questions because he is constantly in touch with them in solving 

 their local tree problems. He meets them in their homes, he lectures to them 

 in the public schools and in their civic and social organizations, he writes for 

 them in the local papers, magazines, school journals, museum bulletins, re- 

 ports and pamphlets. 



The city forester can bring the parks and boulevards in closer touch with 

 the people. Through the medium of his parks and shaded avenue, he can 

 stimulate a love for the beautiful which, though innate in most people, needs 

 to be unearthed in the average city dweller. He can teach the people to know 

 the common trees by labeling prominent specimens in the parks and along the 

 boulevards. He can issue guides to the trees for those desirous of more de- 

 tailed study ; he can have exhibits showing the various phases of tree planting 

 and care. In Brooklyn we have had four exhibits of this sort in the past year. 

 He can form tree clubs among adults and among school children and designate 

 to them definite problems in the planting and care of the trees in their locality. 

 I have tried this in Brooklyn and in other cities and in two instances it has 

 resulted in the formation of permanent local forestry organizations and in 

 another in the establishment of a municipal tree bureau. The tree clubs 

 among school children are of special significance because upon them will 

 depend the future of our forests and the delightful memories of blissful days 

 passed with beautiful trees in youth may seriously influence their later acts. 

 The schools themselves are much in need of trees around them and the children 

 can be made to plant them. To show you this need, let me cite the conditions 

 in Brooklyn where out of the 16G public school, 96 or 58 per cent have no trees 

 at all, 60 or 36 per cent have a few trees, and only 10 or 6 per cent are com- 

 pletely surrounded by trees. In other cities, the conditions are not much bet- 

 ter. Why spend millions of dollars on architectural embelishments and noth- 

 ing on trees? The opportunities for effective work in city forestry are thus 

 numerous and varied, but how are they met by those at present in charge 

 of the field? 



In Brooklyn and Queens, one will find the most extensive range in the 

 country for city tree work 54 parks, 160,000 trees on the streets and boule- 

 vards, the most varied conditions good and bad, and considerable oppor- 

 tunity for improvement and educational work. As I have the honor to repre- 

 sent these two boroughs, I can say that we are very active on just such lines 

 as I have described. There are several other cities and towns giving special 

 attention to their trees and doing good work. 



But the majority of our towns and cities are not yet awake to their tree 

 problems. It is quite true that their civic pride has been aroused in many 

 instances to definite action, but their leaders have selected other banners of 

 reform and overlooked the trees. This is not because their trees do not need 

 attention. The trees of almost every city in the country are suffering from 



