INTRODUCTION 
Most of the guides describing our shade trees, their 
adaptability and uses in the landscape, are based upon 
their behavior along the Atlantic Coast. No recent work 
has appeared which would serve as a guide for the Middle 
Western tree owner. This has had an unfortunate influence 
on tree planting since most of the texts available were 
written as a result of experience in the East. Trees 
which will stand dry weather in New England may not be 
happy during a dry period in Missouri. In the first case, 
a droughty period may last for only three or four weeks; 
even then, the nights are cooler, and the humidity quite 
high. A tree which shows some distress under those con- 
ditions may be seriously injured during a Middle Western 
Summer which may be rainless from eight to thirteen weeks. 
During this time, night temperatures may approach ninety 
degrees; day temperatures exceed a hundred. To this add 
a thirty-mile-an-hour wind and a humidity reading of 
fifteen percent, and the term "dry spell" takes on an al- 
together different meaning. 
Middle Westerners have rather blindly followed East- 
ern planting practices. This is shown most clearly by 
the distribution of Phloem Necrosis now found attacking 
■the Elm in Kansas. It seems those entrusted with the 
planting of shade trees would have recognized that the 
Elm of New England was hardly suited to the heat and cold 
of the western prairies. It is hoped that the information 
contained in these pages will prove a challenge to the 
Middle Western tree grower, and that he will carefully 
consider the possibilities of those trees growing so well 
in his immediate neighborhood. By using many native 
species and varieties, he can diversify his plantings so 
that he is not left treeless upon the outbreak of a single 
disease. He can also add more than a little interest to 
his plantings, since very little thought has been given 
to the landscape value of winter silhouette, or the leaf 
texture and pattern in 
summer 
