NUT TREES IN LANDSCAPE WORK 



621 



the small leaves varying in color from almost white, 

 through pink, yellow and red to the deepest purple. Per- 

 haps the red oak excels all other trees in the beauty of 

 its summer foliage and its leaves are also richly colored 

 in autumn. The Bur Oak, in addition to having attrac- 

 tive foliage, has a rough dark bark that gives it an attrac- 

 tive appearance in winter. The white oak, especially 

 when young, holds many of its leaves until spring, and 

 these, with their brown color, give a warmth to the snowy 

 landscape. One could make a most beautiful park by 

 planting nothing but oaks and they should rank with 

 maples and elms as street trees. 



The chestnut is a tree which a few years ago would 

 have been considered along with the oak in landscape 

 work, but which now would not be thought of in certain 

 regions on account of a disease which has practically 

 destroyed it. It grows to a large size and, if it were 

 not for the chestnut blight, would be worthy of a 

 place in any park. Hundreds of thousands of dollars 

 have been spent without success in endeavoring to 

 exterminate the blight. Some of the introduced varie- 

 ties are apparently exempt from this disease, but only 

 the future can tell whether the chestnut will again become 

 valuable in landscape work as well as in the raising of 

 food and lumber. 



In designing landscapes we think first of open spaces 

 and then bound these spaces with trees and shrubs having 

 pleasing shapes and foliage. The tops of these trees form 

 the skyline and the lower growth a margin of lawns, or 

 perhaps of walks and drives. For these purposes the 

 beeches, hickories, hazels, walnuts and butternuts are all 

 valuable, their value being approximately in the order 

 named. 



There may be some question about including the horse 

 chestnuts and buckeyes in a list of nut trees. The seeds 

 of these trees have, however, been used for feeding stock 

 and perhaps some way may be found for making them 

 available as food for men and women. There is no 

 question about their usefulness for ornamental trees. In 

 Europe the horse chestnut has been used extensively for 

 park and boulevard planting and it is also largely used 

 in the United States. There are several varieties. The 

 leaves appear very early, the blossoms coming out later. 

 Our own buckeyes are handsome in appearance and all 

 are adapted for use in landscape work. 



The arguments for and against the use of nut trees in 

 landscape work would be somewhat similar to such argu- 

 ments regarding fruit trees. The tree with luscious fruit, 

 like the snow apple, would be omitted from the list of 

 trees for a park, not because it lacks beauty, but because 

 its fruit would lead to its destruction. Apple trees might, 

 however, be very appropriate for private grounds. They 

 have sometimes given a name to a home, as "The 

 Orchard." The same is true of certain nut trees, "Wal- 

 nut Hill" and "Hickory Grove" being not uncommon. 

 The hazel, too, is frequently used in naming home 



grounds, streets or localities. A name used in this way 

 has a real and intimate meaning. I am glad there is a 

 movement to encourage the raising of nut trees and hope 

 to see such trees used extensively for the purpose of 

 developing attractive scenery as well as for food pro- 

 duction. 



THE SOAP NUT TREE 



^|ITY attention has been called to an article in 

 '"' American Forestry on the subject of the soap nut 

 tree," writes Dr. M. B. Carleton, of Wooster, Ohio. "I 

 suppose it is the same tree that is indigenous in India 

 along the outer ranges of the Himalayan Mountains 

 about the latitude of the middle of Florida. I was born 

 in that country and lived most of my life there. I have 

 often seen the tree and used the skin of the fruit, or nut, 

 in washing clothes and even used it in bathing. It 

 makes a splendid lather and is highly prized in the wash- 

 ing of woolen clothes, for the garments do not shrink as 



they do when 



the ordinary 

 soap is used. 



"The tree is 

 a symmetrical 

 and handsome 

 one, with many 

 fine dark green 

 leaves and 

 grows to the 

 height of 40 or 

 50 feet. One 

 tree in my gar- 

 d e n supplied 

 enough fruit 

 for the laundry 

 of my family 

 of seven per- 

 sons for a year. 

 "The outer 

 skin only is 

 used. When 

 the fruit is dry 

 it is easily 

 broken into small pieces by hand and then mixed in plenty 

 of hot water. There is a round black . . ' within 

 the outer skin which moves and rattles when ripe. The 

 tree is easily grown from this black seed which is as large 

 as a good sized cherry. 'It is not best to use the lather 

 in washing the face for if it enters the eye, there is 

 much smarting and irritation though I never heard of 

 any permanent injury to the eye and the irritation soon 

 passes off, as I have experienced. 



"The fruit, or nut, is nearly the size of a small walnut 

 and is bulky to carry, but the shell can be removed and 

 broken into small pieces to make it compact and more 

 easily transported." 



SOAP NUTS FRUIT OF THE SOAP NUT TREE 



These curious nuts resemble the peculiar Li Chi 

 (Chinese) nuts of childhood, but in appearance 

 only, as the Chinese nut has a delicate, delicious 

 flavor, while the Soar; Nut is unfit to eat, its 

 value lying in an entirely different direction. 



