BarTBUBBB 27, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



U97 



Fiekf of SeecUing White Aster Grown by F, A. G)nway & G>., Indianapolis. 



leaves in the spring, in a struggle for 

 existence, one cannot but realize that 

 nature has endowed many of our trees 

 with remarkable endurance and great 

 adaptability for planting in our streets. 



Trees may be ranked among the 

 noblest products of nature, and this 

 adaptability for beautifying and shad- 

 ing streets is a great boon to city 

 dwellers, and one that is not appreciated 

 to the full; else, why should such 

 mutilation be perpetrated! or why should 

 it be permitted by those in authority, 

 whose duty it is to protect the in- 

 terests of the public? Ignorance of 

 trees and their requirements undoubtedly 

 has much to do with it. Carelessness, 

 thoughtlessness, and the fierce fight for 

 gain are among the causes which despoil 

 our trees; and when we consider that, 

 in addition to this danger from the hand 

 of man, there is still to be added the 

 ravages of insects and lower organisms, 

 the wonder is that so many beautiful 

 trees are to be found in our streets. 



In addition to shading streets and 

 waysides, trees lend a softening effect 

 to the hard, and too often inharmonious, 

 lines of closely built-up streets, and thus 

 appeal to the artistic sense, both in sum- 

 mer and winter. 



Sanitary Value. 



Trees, too, through their foliage, 

 evaporate a great deal of water, which 

 they draw from the ground. Thus, while 

 cooling the atmosphere, they at the 

 same time sweeten the ground by drain- 

 ing off stagnant water. They also con- 

 sume noxious- gases and send out those 

 that are life-giving. 



In .support of the sanitary value of 

 trees in the public streets, may be cited 

 the resolution passed by the New York 

 County Medical Society: 



Resolved, That one of the most effectlTC 

 means for mitigating the intense heat of the 

 gummer months and diminishing the death rate 

 among children Is the cultivating of an adequate 

 number of trees in the streets. 



This may be further illustrated by 

 the fact that the bill which was pre- 

 sented to the New York legislature in 

 1899, to put the care of street trees in 

 charge of the park commissioners, was 

 drawn by a physician, a member of the 

 State Board of Health, and was intro- 

 duced merely as a sanitary measure. 



Art G>mmissioner^8 View* 



Milo E. Maltbie, Assistant Secretary 

 of the New York Art Commission, as 

 agent of the commission and under the 

 auspices of the State Department of 

 the United States, went to Europe, two 

 years a^o, to investigate the progress of 

 civic improvement in the cities of 

 northern Europe. In his report he 

 says : ' ' That trees and green grass-plots 

 should be used on all streets and avenues 

 wherever possible is so apparent that 

 it hardly needs mention. Nothing adds 

 so much to the beauty of a street, or so 

 tempers the heat and glare of hot sum- 

 mer days, as lines of wide-spreading 

 trees and plots of green grass, with an 

 adequate supply of benches for those 

 who wish to rest and enjoy the changing 

 scenes. 



"The ample provisions made by many 

 European cities have turned many 

 boulevards into continuous park sys- 

 tems. ' ' 



It is to be regretted that in laying 

 out new streets, the tendency of the 

 day is toward the narrowing of the 

 sidewalks, and the omission of any pro- 

 vision for a tree-planting space. Bos- 

 ton, with its suburbs, is suffering from 

 this evil, which portends badly for the 

 beauty of its streets in the future; the 

 absence of provision for planting will 

 quickly relegate such streets to squalor 

 and obscurity. 



This tendency of the present day is 

 in striking contrast to the early public 

 records, which demonstrate the fact that 

 the Puritan Fathers, in the midst of 



their strenuous life, had in mind the 

 beautifying of their surroundings by the 

 planting of trees; and that they ordered, 

 through their selectmen, that trees ahould 

 be planted by the town. Quoting again 

 from Mr. Matthews' address: 



"On February 11, 1711 or 1712, it 

 was voted by the selectmen that a con- 

 venient number of trees be provided to 

 plant on the sides of each burying-place 

 where it shall be thought proper." 

 (To be continued ) 



THE CONWAY ASTER. 



The accompanying illustration is from 

 a photograph taken a few days ago in 

 the aster field of F. A. Conway & Co., 

 Indianapolis. The variety is a seedling 

 of Mr. Conway's own raising, which has 

 made many friends this season among 

 the retailers of Indianapolis. Berter- 

 mann Bros. Co. have used it largely and 

 Irvin Bertermann speaks highly of it. 

 The color is pure white, the flower of un- 

 usual size and fine shape. As the illustra- 

 tion shows, the plants arc of fairly tall 

 growth, affording long stems during the 

 season. The period of blooming is mid- 

 season to late. Mr. Conway has set 

 aside a large number of his best plants 

 for seed production. 



Salt Lake City, Utah. — Ben Carlisle 

 will soon move into the new Thatcher 

 building, on South Main street. 



St. Louis, Mo. — The board of public 

 improvements has let a contract for the 

 erection of a greenhouse in Forest park, 

 near the site of the old Inside Inn, the 

 cost to be $2,090. 



Delano, Minn. — John Vasatka, while 

 conducting his greenhouses, has acquired 

 a reputation as an unerring weather 

 prophet. He predicts a long season of 

 heat such as never has been known in 

 the fall. 



i.:. 





