DECIDUOUS TREES 103 



growing and effective, on account of the shape of its 

 great leaves, has an ungainly appearance that counts 

 against it. One large-growing ash there is that appar- 

 ently continues free from disease and other drawbacks 

 which render many other ashes unsatisfactory on the 

 lawn, and that is fraxinus Americana, the American 

 white ash. Its foliage is rich green, and in form it is 

 symmetrical. It does better here than the European 

 species. The European larch is charming in its early 

 growth, but later on in summer it often grows rusty. 



One of the most picturesque and generally valuable 

 shade trees is the odd-looking American species, with 

 glossy, star-shaped leaves, turning red in autumn, and 

 surmounting a rough-barked, attractive trunk, and bear- 

 ing the euphonious, smooth-sounding name, liquid amber. 

 It is not rapid in growth, nor especially easy to transplant, 

 but it eventually develops into a large tree, and affords 

 agreeable shade along any road on which it may be 

 planted. 



Poets have many times sung the praises of the dainty 

 and graceful white birch, i ' the lady of the woods, ' ' so 

 we will confine ourselves strictly to its practical advan- 

 tages for the lawn. Being of medium size, its somewhat 

 pointed and very marked contour serves well to vary the 

 sky line of any group of trees and shrubs, and in winter, 

 or against a background of evergreens at all seasons, the 

 white stem makes one of the most notable effects in the 

 landscape. The birch is a capricious tree in many ways. 

 It will take a fancy and stop growing, and then start in 

 and grow rapidly, and again it will occasionally die unac- 

 countably, and in transplanting it will also act queerly 

 at times. The best time to plant it is in early, not late, 

 spring, and surely not in fall, although the reader can 



