462 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



cnaracteristic. In many of our 

 American styles we have been 

 prone to ape European mod- 

 els. In the recent past it has 

 been more conspicuously true 

 in dress than possibly in some 

 other particulars. Our archi- 

 tecture is full of it, especially 

 our home ar^itecture, al- 

 though there are a few well- 

 adapted American types, as 

 the colonial homes seen re- 

 spectively in New England, in 

 New York, in Pennsylvania, 

 along the coast in the South 

 and inland regions in the 

 the South. F"or home ground 

 adornment European plants 

 have been much used and it 

 was not until our American 

 wild plants were taken to Eu- 

 rope and sent back to us that 

 we really began to use them, 

 and even now the native mate- 

 rial is not often valued at its 

 true worth for planting pur- 

 poses. Among the best of 

 trees for ornamental planting 

 in this country are the native oaks. They are handsome 

 trees, with species adapted to all parts of the country. 

 They may appropriately be used on the home grounds, in 

 parks, along country roads, and on city streets. The sug- 

 gestion to plant oaks frequently brings as a response the 

 statement that they are too slow in growth. There is a 



PIN OAK AS A STREET TREE 



While not as good a street tree as the red oak it is much better than poplars or silver 

 maple. It thrives on heavy clay soils as well as on those much lighter. 



germ of truth in this as the white oak and the live oak 

 do not grow as rapidly as many other trees. The magnifi- 

 cent live oak avenues of the South attest the fact that past 

 generations did not hesitate to use this tree because it 

 was slower in growth than some other kinds. The sym- 

 metrical placing of specimens of them near some of the 



old houses indicates that they 

 have been planted there. In 

 many cases the arrangfement 

 of the trees is too regular to 

 have been the result of plac- 

 ing the house with reference 

 to trees already in existence. 

 Although the white oak has 

 the reputation of being a 

 slow growing tree and is much 

 slower than many other oaks, 

 yet it is about as rapid a 

 grower as the sugar maple. 

 But the sugar maple is much 

 planted, even though it is 

 widely known to be of slower 

 growth than the silver maple. 

 The oak may be regarded as 

 the most typical American 

 tree. It is widely distributed 

 throughout the United States, 

 it being represented by one 

 species or another practically 

 wherever woody growth ex- 



THE RED OAK 



The red oak is a useful ornamental tree except in those regions approaching sub-tropica 

 conditions or where rainfall is deficient and irrigation is not practical. 



