The Canadian Horticulturist. 



337 



THE USE OF SHADE TREES. 



REES, other than fruit trees, are planted mainly 

 for two purposes, ornament and shade. For 

 ornament alone, we desire trees that are beautiful 

 in color or shape of leaf, color of bark, habit of 

 growth, character of flowers or oddity of habit. 

 Cut-leaved trees and those of a graceful, weeping 

 habit do not cast a great amount of shade, nor 

 attain great size ; neither are they able to stand 

 neglect or abuse. They may be said to belong 

 to a higher order than other trees, and with their 

 higher structure comes a greater and more com- 

 plex development of parts, which necessarily 

 renders them more delicate and susceptible to injury, climatic conditions and 

 changes. A purple beech or cut-leaved birch would be as much out of place, 

 even if it could be made to grow, in a crowded city street as would a mammoth 

 oak in the back yard of a 25 x 80 foot city lot. For shade purposes, then, it is 

 desirable to secure trees which present characteristics somewhat different from 

 purely ornamental trees. Some of them have directly opposite characteristics, 

 others similar ones ; as the character of the one class approaches that of the 

 other the trees may be used for the one purpose or the other. Shade trees may 

 be used for ornamental purposes, but the purely ornamental trees, so called, are 

 not generally adapted for shade or street planting. 



The chief requisities of a shade tree are that it be large and shapely, with 

 abundant foliage, so that the sun does not shine through to any extent. A 

 street tree must possess, in addition to the above qualities, a disposition to 

 transplant easily when of good size, ability to grow well in poor, dry, hard soil, 

 be capable of withstanding cold, heat and dust, and have few or no enemies. 

 Along a country road or wide village street the soil is usually better than in a 

 city street, where either the good surface soil has been removed in grading, or 

 sand or other equally poor soil has been carted in on top. Paved streets have 

 gutters that carry off the water, and the soil beneath is usually very dry and hard. 

 In the city there is also a great amount of dust, smoke and soot, which is fatal 

 to many trees, especially to evergreens. The conditions which a tree meets in 

 the city street are directly opposite to those of its natural habitat ; therefore, it is 

 not strange that we see few large, healthy trees in the thickly settled streets of 

 any city of considerable size or age. Most of the large trees we do see were 

 planted when the city was a mere village, or they came up naturally before the 

 street was laid out. The roots have gone far and deep in search of food and 

 moisture, and became established before the present conditions existed. Along 



