C TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 







The Bed mulberry needs a deep moist soil; hence it remains small 

 and not very thriftly on our uplands. 



Hardy specimens of the Paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifira 

 [L], Vent) are found in Bryan, five miles from College. It is a small, 

 but when young a fast growing tree, which soon reaches its maximum 

 size, when its branches begin to break down, and its trunk becomes 

 knotty, hollow, and anything but decorative. What has been said con- 

 cerning the Umbrella China tree as shade and ornamental trees, applies 

 equally well to the Paper mulberry. 



Poplar. Our list includes the following species and varieties: 

 Cotton Wood (Populis monelifera, Ait.) ; Balsam poplar (P. balsam- 

 ifera, L.) ; Silver poplar, of which we have two varieties (P. abba, L.), 

 the type-form and the pyramidal form ; Gray poplar (P. canescens, 

 Eng.) ; Lombardy poplar (P. nigra fastigata, Spach). The two first 

 are native of America. Cottonwooct grows wild in our vicinity, and 

 the Balsam poplar is a native of the New England and Middle States. 

 The others are imported from Middle and Southern Europe. All of 

 the poplars prefer a moist, cool soil ; all grow readily from cuttings. 



Out of this number of species only a few specimens of Cottonwood, 

 now past their prime, are yet alive. Of the others a specimen of the 

 Lombardy poplar, having a favorable position, grew to a height of 

 about 50 feet in fifteen years, then died within a few years. Similarly 

 was the behavior of the Silver poplar and its pyramidal variety. These 

 three poplars are all beauties and give a striking effect where used with 

 taste and judgment in ornamental planting; the Lombardy poplar, be- 

 cause of its columnal form; the Silver poplar, because of its color of 

 foliage; and the pyramidal Silver poplar, because of both foliage and 

 form. 



Though they are all three too short-lived on our stiff and compact 

 soil, grand specimens can be found in East Texas planted in more suit- 

 able ground. 



The Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis, L.) and the Sweet Gum 

 (Liquidamber styraciflua, L.) have been tried with poor, success on our 

 ground. They both demand a permeable, moist soil; both are famous 

 for size, beauty, and rapid growth. The former is extensively used in 

 the South for avenues and parks in our cities and towns; perhaps, be- 

 cause it is so easily propagated from cuttings. The second, although it 

 is more ornamental than the Sycamore, having a more symmetrical 

 pyramidal form, a denser and more vividly colored foliage, is almost 

 totally neglected, evidently because it is less cheaply propagated. As to 

 the ornarr.ert- ! value of the Sweet Gum, I find the following remark in 

 the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society of England for the year 

 1901: "Why this beautiful American tree is not more frequently 

 planted we can not imagine, as it is a hardy, not particular as to soil 

 and makes a beautiful object wherever it grows. Some sav : 'Yes, you 

 want a favorable season to get it well calloused'; the truth of which, 

 of course, depends on what is a favorable season for the plant. After 

 the dull summers of 1902 and 1903, the foliage was quite as beautifully 

 colored as usual, and we have never seen a more gorgeous sight than 

 this tree in the Society's Garden at Wisely last autumn; it was one mass 

 of brilliant, glowing crimson. What a glorious feature they would 



