TREE PLANTING ON STREETS AND HIGHWAYS. 1 79 



"any schoolhouse, church, or public building, or along any public highway." The 

 kinds of trees mentioned in the law referred to are well adapted to highway planting ; 

 and the distances apart at which they must be set are based on the space which 

 each species is known to occupy. While the distances specified in the State law are 

 correct as regards highway planting, shorter intervals may be used in cities, where 

 trees seldom attain a height and spread equal to that of the same species when 

 grown in the open country. 



Selection of Trees. 



Nothing has been found that will equal our American Elm and Hard Maple for 

 wide roads and double rows. As our Elms often attain a spread of one hundred 

 feet it is evident that the seventy feet demanded in the law is none too wide a 

 space. The trees should be allowed to assume their full size and natural shape 

 without crowding or interfering with each other. Transplanted, or " second 

 growth," Hard Maples along a country road attain a large size and beautiful appear- 

 ance, which require all of a fifty-foot space. Other species — Oaks, Basswood, White 

 Ash, Locust, Willow, Horse Chestnut, Black Cherry, Buttonball, Beech and the two 

 Soft Maples — can be used with good results in order to obtain variety, By planting 

 the Scarlet Oak, Red Maple and Pepperidge, the brilliancy of the autumn coloring 

 can be enhanced by the bright reds displayed by the leaves of these species. 



In some localities the Elms have been killed or seriously injured by insects; and 

 these pests have wrought a widespread destruction recently anong the maples in 

 the Adirondack and Catskill forests, and in village streets. The Horse Chestnuts 

 also have been defoliated ; and it may be that other species will be injured in time. 

 While it is difficult to check the ravages of insects when large forest areas are 

 attacked, this evil can be controlled, if not prevented, where the trees along our 

 highways and streets are endangered, as shown by the successful use of spraying 

 apparatus or other remedies. The planting of any particular species should not be 

 discontinued merely because the trees may be attacked at some future time by 

 insects. The good work should go on, and if, in years to come, there should be a 

 recurrence of this evil we can safely trust to the remedies prescribed by our ento- 

 mologists for the prevention or abatement of the pest. 



There are some forest trees which are not adapted to roadside planting, because 

 they assume a different form when grown in the open, the branches growing lower 

 down and the trunk failing to reach its usual height, although it may attain a large 

 diameter. For this reason, the Birches, especially the Yellow Birch, are not desir- 

 able for streets or roadside use. 



