Trees /or Town and City Streets. 



is usually of rather upright outline. It is better adapted to suburban 

 conditions than to city streets and is one of the few trees that suc- 

 ceed well near the ocean. It has bright-red blossoms before the 

 leaves appear. The young leaves and fruits are also red. The 

 mature leaves begin to color early, some branches coloring as early 

 as the middle of July, assuming brilliant reds and yellows and stay- 

 ing on later than those of the sugar maple. It is a handsome tree 

 that is not as much 

 used as it deserves to 

 be in regions 1, 9, 10,' 

 11, 12, and 13. 



The silver maple, 

 also called the soft 

 maple, white maple, 

 and swamp maple, is 

 probably more used 

 for street planting 

 through the whole 

 United States than 

 any other tree, though 

 it is one of the least 

 desirable. It is 

 usually planted be- 

 cause it is a quick- 

 growing tree, but it 

 is not more rapid in 

 growth than several 

 other trees that are 

 much better. There 

 are three serious ob- 

 jections to its use as 

 a street tree. The 

 first is its brittle 

 wood, which at an 

 early age is easily broken by ordinary windstorms and causes it when 

 a comparatively young tree to become unsightly. The second is its 

 shallow rooting, which has a tendency to destroy pavements and also 

 makes it difficult to grow grass near the trees. The roots also will 

 grow into sewers. The third is its tendency to decay; the tips of 

 the limbs frequently die, leaving the whole top of the tree bare of 

 leaves, and the wood decays quickly, especially if the bark is broken. 

 For this reason it does not stand pruning as well as most other 

 street tre'es, and it probably has been pruned more ruthlessly than 

 any other, unless it is the Carolina poplar. It should never be 

 severely deheaded or, as it is popularly called, " dehorned" (fig. 16), 



FIG. 16. Silver maples severely headed back, an improper 

 way to treat trees, especially silver maples, except 

 under very unusual conditions. Washington. D. C. ; 

 midsummer. 



