DECIDUOUS TREES 191 



for air currents between roof and foliage. The wrong kind of 

 tree to plant near a house is an evergreen, which sticks its arms 

 into the windows, whereas the vase-formed elm arches protect- 

 ingly over the house and makes the best possible frame for the 

 home picture. A horse chestnut or other dense tree stops too 

 much sunlight and air. The next steps in advance will be to make 

 pergolas a part of the house, construct outdoor sleeping rooms, 

 screen verandas, and use vines on flat roofs as the Italians do for 

 shade. 



Any one who wishes an inspiring new point of view toward 

 shade trees should read the chapter in the " English Flower Gar- 

 den," called "Air and Shade." 



THE AGE EFFECT 



If your grounds are large enough for a tree that will grow a 

 hundred feet high or more, plant an oak. (See plate 69). The 

 grandest of American oaks is the white oak (Q. alba), and this is 

 also the nearest equivalent of the English, which generally fails 

 here. But the white oak is almost impossible to transplant and 

 very slow. The quickest growing oaks are the pin, red, and 

 scarlet. 



Plant American beech and linden in preference to their 

 English equivalents. Plant red and sugar maples in preference to 

 the sycamore maple. 



The following characteristic American trees will grow better 

 here than in England, and have often attained more than one 

 hundred feet or one hundred years: Honey locust, black walnut, 

 pin oak, red oak, black oak, white oak (from seed). 



The following cannot be expected to last a century. Birches, 

 elms, poplars, willows, ailanthus, catalpa, box elder, silver maple, 

 English hawthorn, or any kind of chestnut. 



