THE BIGGEST SHADE TREE IS ALSO BEST 



1109 



ington, Indiana, which is 44 feet 6 inches in circumfer- 

 ence and 150 feet tall, draws attention to the fact 

 that foresters and arborists are nowadays recommending 

 the species especially for city planting. They say that 

 long experience with sycamores planted in city streets has 

 shown that the species is peculiarly able to withstand the 

 smoke, dust, and gases which are usually an unavoidable 

 complement of urban life. In addition, the sycamore is 

 as resistent to attacks of insects and fungi as almost 

 any species, and is a quick grower; at ten years of age, 

 a healthy sycamore usually is already large enough for 

 shade, as well as for decorative purposes. As for the 

 latter, there is hardly any eastern species which is gen- 

 erally held so picturesque as the sycamore. With its 

 strikingly mottled bark and magnificent stature and con- 

 formation, the sycamore has a marked individuality and 

 can not be mistaken for any other species, either in the 

 summer when the foliage conceals its structural form, or 

 in the winter when the leaves are absent. 



A common objection to the sycamore as a lawn tree 

 is its habit of dropping its leaves before autumn. From 

 this characteristic it is sometimes called a "dirty tree." 

 Recently a letter was received from a suburban resident 

 who has a sycamore on his lawn. "My sycamore tree is 

 very beautiful," said the writer, "until about the first 

 of August, when its leaves begin to fall. Is there any 

 remedy that I can apply to the tree to keep it from 

 dropping its leaves so soon?" It was necessary to tell 

 the correspondent that this was a characteristic habit 

 of the tree. This drawback, however, is practically the 

 only failing that the sycamore has, and it is offset by 

 many desirable qualities. 



On the other hand, there is little prospect of popu- 

 larity, foresters say, for the valley oak of California, 

 which was decided to be the largest nut-bearing tree in 

 the United States, the contest unearthing a specimen in 

 San Benito County, which is 37 feet 6 inches in circumfer- 

 ence and 12.5 feet high. The valley oak is a very beautiful 

 tree, but it attains maturity only after three or four hun- 

 dred years ; its wood is too tough, knotty, and otherwise 

 imperfect to be good for lumber; the tree grows too 

 .slowly to be planted for shade or decorative purposes, 

 and, being found only in California, it would have a small 

 field of usefulness. Horticulturists say that the valley 

 oak is not popularly considered a nut-bearing tree ; for its 

 acorns are not generally used for food, although, of 

 course, they are edible. Foresters say that the chestnut 

 and the black walnut are the largest nut-bearing trees in 

 this country, and the contest did, in fact, unearth a chest- 

 nut, near Crestmont, North Carolina, which is 33 feet 

 4 inches in circumference and about 75 feet tall. 



The contest brought forth photographs and authentic 

 descriptions of 337 trees in all parts of the United States, 

 making a distinctly valuable contribution to existing 

 knowledge of native trees. It was found that, in all 

 probability, there is no living elm larger than "The Great 

 Elm" at Wethersfield, Connecticut, which is 28 feet in 

 circumference, and about 100 feet tall, and is estimated 



to be 250 years old. Many remarkable specimens of 

 species which ordinarily attain only small sizes were uir- 

 earthed by the contest, furnishing new records of maxi- 

 num growth. A sassafras was brought to light at 

 Horsham, Pennsylvania, which is 15 feet 10 inches in 

 circumference at four feet from the ground, whereas, for 

 example, not long before this a Georgia town claimed 

 that it had the largest sassafras tree in the world, though 

 this tree was only something over 7 feet in circumference. 

 A white birch was found in Massachusetts with a girth of 

 12 feet 2 inches ; a pecan was found in Louisiana with a 

 circumference of 19 feet 6 inches, and a catalpa in Arkan- 

 sas with a girth of 16 feet. The tallest tree found is a 

 yellow poplar in North Carolina, which is 198 feet high 

 and has a circumference of 34 feet 6 inches. 



The value of the contest lies in its contribution of new 

 information as to the maximum growth attained by de- 

 ciduous species and the localities in which the different 

 species seem to grow best. The relative sizes of the 

 coniferous species are fairly well established, the Bigtree 

 of California, for example, being the largest in the 

 world; but information on the size attained by deciduous 

 trees in this country has been very incomplete. 



ARTICLES ON NATIONAL PARKS 



A MERICAN FORESTRY takes pleasure in announc- 



/ \ ing that starting in the January issue it will publish 



a series of profusely illustrated articles on the 



scenic features of the National Parks by Mr. Marie 



Daniels, Superintendent of National Parks. 



USE THE DEAD LEAVES 



EVERY shade tree owner in New York State 

 should learn the simple lesson of conservation 

 which nature is teaching in our forests in the 

 utilizing of the autumn leaves. Where a few shade or 

 forest trees are throwing their foliage about the home 

 grounds, they should by no means be raked up and 

 burned because it is like burning so much valuable stable 

 manure, but they should be composted where that is 

 possible or used as a mulch around flowering perennials, 

 roses and often large trees. By wetting the leaves 

 thoroughly and then weighting them down by sticks or 

 soil, they will be a splendid winter protection and the 

 weight and moisture of the winter's snow will bring 

 about rapid incorporation of the mulch with the soil. 

 Where autumn leaves are to be used as a mulch about 

 fruit or very young shade trees, some care must be 

 exercised in not putting the mulch too close to the stems 

 as there is danger of the mulch harboring mice which 

 during the winter might girdle the young trees. 



