UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 816 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 



Washington, D. C. 



January 19, 1920 



STREET TREES. 



By F. L. MuLFORD, Horticulturist, Office of Horticultural and Pomological 



Investigations. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Importance of shade trees 1 



Public control of street trees 6 



Planning for trees on city streets 8 



Spacing trees 9 



Conditions for tree growth 10 



Kinds of trees suitable for city streets 14 



Qualities necessary 14 



Trees for different regions 16 



Trees for special purposes 20 



Descriptions of street trees 20 



Page. 



Culture of street trees 43 



Selection of individual trees 43 



Preparation of holes 44 



Planting 45 



Pruning 50 



Stakes and guards 51 



Later care 52 



Care of mature trees S3 



Pnming 53 



Feeding 55 



Spraying 65 



IMPORTANCE OF SHADE TREES. 



THE COMFORT to be derived from shade trees lias long been 

 recognized. The early settlers of this country saved fine 

 trees about their homes, on the village greens, along the country 

 roads, and in the fields. Later, as villages grew, the householders 

 planted trees adjoining their properties, and the result has been 

 the beautiful elm-shaded villages of New England, the maple-shaded 

 towns of New York and the Ohio Valley, and the oak-shaded streets 

 of the Southeastern States. (Fig. 1.) 



With time, the villages and towns became cities, and the wood- 

 lands were largely destroyed. Conditions for tree growth were 

 less favorable in the cities, and nurseries had to be depended upon 

 for planting material. With these changed conditions the native 

 trees of a region became less dominant in the city planting and were 

 largely replaced by those trees listed in nursery catalogues which 

 took the fancy of each property owner along the street. (Fig. 2.) 

 The quickest growing trees were considered first, and as some of these 

 made a big showing the first few years and were easily transplanted, 

 they have become the dominating trees in street planting from the 



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