6 AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE or TEXAS. 



species of trees as yet untried which are adaptable to the western por- 

 tion of Texas. It is the desire of this department to encourage an 

 interest in tree planting of all kinds and to aid with advice, experi- 

 ments and demonstrations in this laudable work. 



STREET TREES. 



Every street, unless it be the business street, should be evenly and 

 uniformly planted. Single species are preferable to a number of dif- 

 ferent species for a given street since greater regularity can thus be 

 secured. It is unfortunate that town lots are allowed to remain with- 

 out trees until the houses one by one are erected. The average city 

 street today has some lots well planted, others poorly planted and still 

 others, generally where there are no buildings, without trees entirely. 

 Uniformity in a street cannot be obtained so long as this practice is 

 continued. Owners should act together in selecting trees and having 

 them planted by competent persons, or else, as is customary in States 

 where trees are given the best attention, the entire work should be done 

 by the town or city and assessed to all property owners. It is imprac- 

 ticable to correct mistakes in past planting but it is easy to secure uni- 

 formity when new streets are being laid out. Some of the best city 

 planting in Texas today is done by real estate concerns which are open- 

 ing new subdivisions. 



It is the duty of the city as a whole to see that property owners con- 

 form to well established rules covering the planting, spacing and species 

 to be used and to protect the trees from injury by horses, careless con- 

 tractors, who may fasten guy wires to them or dump building material 

 against them, mutilation by careless linemen and the numerous other 

 sources of injury to which trees are exposed. Building regulations are 

 accepted as the only means of securing safety and uniformity in con- 

 struction. Why should not similar regulations be enforced to secure the 

 right kind of street planting, care and protection? A small city can 

 as well safeguard the welfare of its street trees as a large city. Many 

 years are required to develop good trees and their value is too priceless 

 to permit them to be butchered by linemen, teamsters and workmen 

 and injured through the neglect or at the whim of property owners. 

 Most people by nature love the trees and desire to see their welfare 

 secured. This can best be done by placing the -entire care of the street 

 trees in the hands of a competent person or commission of the city and 

 enacting suitable ordinances with penalties for their violation. 



It is common practice in this State to dig wild trees in the woods 

 and bottoms and plant them out. Most of the fine old trees in towns 

 and cities were secured in this way. Wild trees are not so good as 

 trees grown in nurseries under cultivation, but, nevertheless, this has 

 been our source octrees in the past and will continue to be for many 

 years to come. A little care in selecting and planting such trees will 

 be repaid by far better results. Many species have been planted which 

 have not proven to be best in the long run. While hackberry is the 

 commonest planted tree in the State, there are many sections where 



