OAKS FOR ORNAMENTAL PLANTING 



BY F. L. MULFORD 



T N the normal human being there is an innate love of 

 - natural objects, both animals and plants. The young 

 child who has not been scared by foolish caretakers is 

 interested in the small animals that come within its ken, 

 and all expect children to want to pick the buttercups and 



THE LIVE OAK 



The magnificent live oak avenues of the South indicate that past generations did not hesi 

 tate to use this slpecies despite the fact that it is slower in growth than some other kinds 



daisies to say nothing of the dandelions. It is only chil- 

 dren who are brought up under sordid city conditions, or 

 those who are brought up by people so thoroughly ob- 

 sessed with material things 

 that they continually crush the 

 natural in childhood, that do 

 not carry this love into ma- 

 ture years. 



Though most people have in 

 them the power of loving na- 

 ture, yet because of lack of 

 sufficient knowledge to really 

 know a few plants and their 

 characteristics, they do not 

 have the interest and get the 

 enjoyment they otherwise 

 might. 



Although it is an added en- 

 joyment to those who know 

 and love trees to be able to gu 

 out into the woods and fields, 

 and even into the forests and 

 mountains, yet much of en- 

 joyment may be gained in city 

 parks and on home grounds, 

 especially where the latter are 

 somewhat liberal in extent, so 



that large trees may be used for shade about the home. 

 It is fortunate that this is true as so many people are 

 condemned to live in cities nearly all their lives, and of 

 those who are so fortunate as to live in the country many 

 live in regions where there are but few trees except those 



they bring about the homes. 

 In other cases the rich natural 

 growths are destroyed to make 

 way for farming, so that the 

 farmstead, and occasionally a 

 stream bank or a fence row 

 are the only places where good 

 trees may be seen close at 

 hand. 



Interest in these home 

 plantings is greatly increased 

 if the trees are selected with a 

 view to their individual beau- 

 ty and appropriateness for the 

 locality, as well as to give an 

 air of naturalness and com- 

 fort to the home surroundings. 

 Too often such trees have 

 been selected primarily be- 

 cause they were a trifle more 

 rapid in growth than other 

 kinds, or because it was the 

 style in the community. Less often trees have been se- 

 lected because they were foreign to the region or the 

 conditions and showed this markedly in some prominent 



THE WILLOW OAK 

 The willow oak holds its leaves well into the winter in the states near the Gulf of Mexico, 

 but drops its leaves early in the section north of Washington and Louisville. 



