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CA JVA DIA N HORTIC ULTUKIST. 



very clean tree and highly ornamental. 

 If the trees are isolated and stand in 

 suitable locations, they ordinarily have 

 very wide-spreading branches. Some- 

 times several trunks will grow close to- 

 gether, and present a very beautiful 

 appearance. 



The sycamore,button wood, or ''button- 

 ball tree," is another excellent tree for 

 land that is somewhat moist. It is one 

 of the largest trees found on this side 

 of the Rocky Mountains. Along the 

 banks of the Mississippi River and its 

 tributaries it often attains the height 

 of eighty feet, and has a trunk from 

 six to ten feet in diameter. The tree is 

 possessed of great vitality. If the 

 trunk becomes hollow a living shell re- 

 mains around the cavity, which pro- 

 tracts the life of the branches. These 

 hollow trunks Were utilized by the 

 early settlers of many of the Western 

 States for grain bins, smoke-houses, 

 and shelter for fowls and pigs. Hol- 

 low sycamore trunks have afforded 

 shelter to many families of Western 

 pioneers. The trees can be easily prop- 

 agated by seed or ripe wood cuttings 

 of either one or two-year old wood cut 

 late in the spring or early in the fall. 

 The wood is very hard to split, quickly 

 decays, and is of very little value for 

 timber or fuel. Sections of large trunks 

 make good blocks for cutting meat. 

 The tree, however, is of very little 

 value except for ornament and shade, 

 but for these purposes it is very desir- 

 able. 



For higher land the silver-leaf pop- 

 lar has many advantages. It is readily 

 propagated to cuttings, grows I'apidly, 

 and attains a large size, while its 

 branches extend over a large space, 

 and afford a good shade. The tree is 

 healthy, not liable to be injured by in. 

 .sects, and attains a large size. A few 

 of these trees on a farm serve a useful 

 purpose by way of ornament. The 

 wood makes excellent fuel The tree, 

 however, is very objectionable in one 

 respect. If its roots are broken or 



disturbed tliey throw up a large num- 

 ber of suckers tliat are very hard to 

 kill or keep in subjection. In planting 

 in a permanent pasture, however, this 

 proneness to throw up sprouts from 

 the roots is not likely to prove a seri- 

 ous objection. If the sod over the 

 roots remains unbroken the suckers 

 will not appear as they do on land that 

 is plowed every year. The silver pop- 

 lar is an imported tree, and we are just 

 finding out what it is good for. When 

 lirst introduced it was planted in lawns, 

 gardens, and on the sides of streets in 

 large towns. The numerous suckers 

 thrown up in land that was cultivated 

 condemned it for these places. It is, 

 however, an excellent tree for produc- 

 ing shade in pastures and for affording 

 fuel. 



The common cotton or whitewood 

 possesses most of the advantages of the 

 basswood and sycamore, but in an in- 

 ferior degree. It is not as beautiful, 

 and does not produce so dense a shade. 

 When the trees stand at some distance 

 from each other and are kept properly 

 pruned they are quite attractive, and 

 serve as ornaments to well-kept grounds. 

 All these trees are mentioned because 

 they are easily propagated aud grow 

 quickly. Maples, elms, birches, beeches 

 and hickories, are far more valuable 

 for most purposes, and most of them 

 afford good shade. It is necessary, 

 however, to raise the trees from seed, 

 to purchase them from nurserymen, to 

 move them ordinarily long distances, 

 and to wait many years before they 

 will produce much sliade. Ti-ees that 

 are late in leafing out in the spring, 

 which have scant foliage, which are 

 liable to disease or to attacks of insects 

 are not desirable for planting in pas- 

 tures. Neither are trees whose foliage 

 is eaten by cattle or sheep. Tlie quicker 

 a tree grows the shorter will be the 

 time that it will require protection 

 against animals, and the less will be 

 the cost of raising it to a size to afford 

 shade. — Fruit Groinerx' Journal. 



