428 



PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 



When trees of this character are removed to dry locations, as on the high, 

 rolling plains, the insufficiency of water merely maintains life, but all vigor is lost. 

 There are places on the prairies where water exists within a few feet of the sur- 

 face. Here the cottonwood sends its roots deep and finds moisture. As a city 

 street tree it has passed its days of usefulness, and wherever it exists other and 

 better trees should be planted, selecting such as survive with less moisture and 

 have roots of an entirely different character from those of elm and cottonwood. 



A WESTERN COTTONWOOD 



The moist lands along the Mississippi river are favorable to the growth of the 

 cottonwood, and dense thickets formerly existed along the river's banks. 



I'.i-fore the extensive coal mining period, the author, as a steamboat clerk, has 

 often watched the shores of the Mississippi for the well-known woodyards where 

 the supply of fuel must be replenished from the cottonwood groves, since the prin- 

 cipal fuel was from these trees. 



