STRKKT AND IIICIIWAY PLANTING, 85 



a problem for our nurserymen, and we must demand good materials 

 from him and be willing to pay for the extra care that they must have. 



Another case which demands special nursery care is that of the Texas 

 umbrella tree. It is urged that this tree be abandoned for street work, 

 but it offers such a gcod example that it is used here merely to illus- 

 trate the point in hand. If left to its own devices the tree branches a 

 foot or so from the ground level and produces a multitude of co-ordinate 

 branches, which produce a great thickening which is easily broken in 

 wind or rain storms. The problem is this: Can branching be induced 

 after a better leader has been formed, and can the young tree be pruned 

 so that fewer branches are allowed to develop and hence a safer, stronger 

 crotch be formed? 



A somewhat different problem is confronted in the case of the Carol) 

 tree (Ceratonia siliqua). As was shown in Fig. 13, the tendency of 

 the tree is to form several leaders which develop horizontally, and after 

 developing great thickness split off, breaking with them much of the 

 main trunk. This problem is more difficult to solve, and it is not as 

 yet assured that it can be overcome. 



So examples might be multiplied without number. The point of the 

 matter is this : use only first-class nursery stock and expect to pay for 

 it. Examine your trees ; see that they are healthy and free from insect 

 pests; see that they have developed normally, and are not trees which 

 have made the best of bad conditions; see that they have grown vigor- 

 ously, and have never been stunted or root-bound. Then give them a 

 place to grow which gives them every opportunity for an optimum 

 development, and then do not sit down and await results, but give them 

 constant care, for one can not expect reasonable development with no 

 care at all. 



To all this there will probably be raised the objection of expense. 

 Most assuredly there will be some extra expense, but these matters need 

 not take very much more work than in ordinary nursery practice, and 

 it is to the advantage of the nurseryman to turn out good specimens for 

 municipal use. Furthermore, these plantings are being made for a 

 great number of years, and an additional expenditure at the beginning 

 may save an endless amount of worry, time and expense in correcting 

 bad work later on. And bad work corrected is at best far less desirable 

 than good work from the first. 



The time to plant. This feature will vary somewhat according to 

 the locality, the species, and the facilities for care afterwards. From 

 general practice it might be said that it is safe to plant in the spring, 

 after the hardest, coldest rains are over, until the early summer months. 

 Some species are more tolerant and resistant than others, and can be 

 planted all through the summer months. Many more species can be 



