FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 85 



that succeeds so well as the American elm, but if your streets 

 are a little narrow, we must g^et along- with the maple. But 

 you can enlarge this by using the red oak and beech and 

 ash and some other trees, and by so enlarging the variety 

 I think you make the effect more beautiful. We have our 

 trouble in protecting our trees in the city and the same applies 

 to the country, and that is the temptation of fastening horses 

 to a tree, or, if not fastening, leaving them unhitched by the 

 butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker — ^they will leave 

 their horses unhitched, and the horse will find that tree and 

 commence to feed thereon. Now we have our laws and 

 there is a penalty for a person fastening a horse to a shade 

 tree, and we have to make examples of some of them, and 

 sometimes it has its effect. Our greatest trouble is with the 

 telegraph and telephone companies. We cannot do without 

 that service, and we have got to work with them, there is 

 no use of denying that ; we can't antagonize them, we have 

 got to work with them, and this is left to the control of the 

 tree wardens and the park commissioners. They have the 

 right of way first, and if these companies come in with their 

 wires, they must locate their poles either high enough, or go 

 around them, so as not to destroy the trees. Then we have 

 the trolley -companies that come along and destroy whole 

 rows of trees with their wires, but that can be stopped by 

 shifting their tracks on one side or another of the street, 

 rather than destroying these trees. We have our troubles 

 in addition to that ; there is a disposition to post signs or bills 

 on these trees. We have our laws to prevent that, and we 

 don't hesitate to strip them off the trees. This is a disfig- 

 urement of the landscape, and we believe it is just as impor- 

 tant to eliminate from our roadsides everything that is a blot 

 on the landscape, as it is to encourage the beautiful in the 

 planting of trees. So we look after tliat thing, and see as far 

 as possible, that our rocks and fences and things are not 

 made use of for advertising purposes. An instance occurred 

 in my own city where the secretary of the park board, a man 

 of robust figure and very positive in his manner of speech, 

 had drawn to one of our large parks near the entrance a 

 tremendous rock which took six pair of oxen to get it there. 



