70 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 259. 



would simply be an exasperating- annoyance. Of course, pub- 

 lic grounds and really neglected or abandoned private groinids 

 are the proper care of the public officials. What private land- 

 owners need is instruction and help, and if the call is as great 

 as you say, why may not the professional entomologists ar- 

 range to take their pay in produce (a share of the enlarged 

 crop) where they cannot get cash ? Cash is usually a scarce 

 article with the farmers, but few would hesitate to agree to 

 give a liberal share of any increase of crop they could be as- 

 sured of. 

 Medford, Mass. Walter C. Wright. 



Meetings of Societies. 

 The Western New York Horticultural Society. — II. 



THE report of this meeting, which was begun last 

 week, is continued below. Mr. William McMillan, 

 Superintendent of Parks in Buffalo, in his usual vigorous 

 manner, read a paper entitled 



SHADE-TREES IN CITY STREETS. 



Shade-trees along the borders of the streets were at one 

 time a distinguishing feature of American cities, and this city 

 of Rochester is a good exemplar of the practice to-day. Per- 

 haps no city in the country has had equal advantages in soil, 

 subsoil, natural drainage, tree-supply, good example and 

 public spirit. If in summer we take a bird's-eye view of the 

 town from the outlook pavilion in Highland Park, the houses 

 seem to be nearly all hidden by the trees. The section where 

 trees have given way to business is probably smaller than in 

 any other city of its size. 



In nearly all our cities street-trees are set out and cared for 

 solely by the owner or the occupiers of the abutting property. 

 Each man plants or not according to his own taste or interest 

 in the matter. This involves much diversity and incongruity 

 in the selection of species, in age and size, in the distance 

 from the curb-line and from each other. Uniformity in these 

 respects can only be obtained for any given stretch of street 

 where the work is done by municipal authority. This method 

 has been eminently successful in the leading cities of Europe, 

 and in Washington, where nearly every street that has been 

 opened and graded has been systematically planted under the 

 central authority of a special commission. 



Few persons realize the constant liabilit)' to damage and 

 destruction to which young trees are exposed. Some idea of 

 it may be gained by inspecting the trees on any given street 

 and noting how few show no signs of stunted growth, scarred 

 trunk, mutilated top, or blemish of some kind. The most 

 common damage is the gnawing of the bark by horses, or of 

 the branches, if within reach, but up to a certain age mis- 

 chievous boys are far more destructive. If the sapling gets 

 safely out of its swaddling-clothes it is next attacked at the 

 roots by trenches for sewers, gas-pipes, water-pipes and elec- 

 tric cables, or by changes of lines or grades in layiug curb- 

 stones, or flagging. In later years the largest limbs will be 

 mutilated by telegraph line-men and their wires. Again, 

 under ordinary conditions the trees suffer constantly from 

 lack of moisture, because the pavement or the beaten ground 

 sheds most of the rainfall ; from lack of food, because the 

 roots cannot penetrate the hardened subsoil ; from poison by 

 gas, because the small service pipes soon become rusted 

 through ; and from want of air, because the soot and dust of 

 the city stops up the pores of the leaves. The unhealthy con- 

 dition resulting from these and other causes invites grubs and 

 borers, slugs and caterpillars, scale, spider and fungal blight, 

 all in great profusion. In the streets these insect pests are 

 safe from their natural enemies, the birds, and from the poi- 

 sonous spray of the gardener's syringe. 



The trees most commonly used are probably the best under 

 average conditions. "Nothing succeeds like success," and 

 the points contributing most to this success are ease of prop- 

 agation, cheapness of nursery culture, quickness of early 

 growth, endurance under careless transplanting, average good 

 looks and absence of bad habits, the ability to pick up a living 

 on a scanty diet, and patience under abuse of every sort. 



After explaining the merits and defects of the various Elms, 

 Maples, Lindens, Ashes, Beeches and several other trees, Mr. 

 McMillan continued : Oaks require early transplanting and 

 extra care for a long time. But, in any city, where they can be 

 securely protected until of good size, they endure the ordinary 

 street conditions as well as Elms and Maples. Once well 

 established, a Black, Red or Scarlet Oak will grow as fast 

 as the average of other street trees. The habit is always good; 

 pruning or thinning of the branches is rarely necessary, and 

 the glossy foliage is a special attraction all through the season. 



But for foliage-effect the finest trees are the Tulip and 

 the Plane. Fine examples of each are occasionally seen in 

 our streets, but general experience seems to condemn them. 

 The soft roots of the Tulip-tree make it impatient of careless 

 transplanting, unless very young, and protection from severe 

 frosts is necessary in clay soils until the roots get below the 

 frost line. But once well-established in any favorable soil and 

 subsoil, it becomes a noble street tree, well worth any extra 

 care bestowed on it. The Plane-tree is as easily transplanted 

 as any Maple, and, if in good soil, its growth for many years is 

 as rapid as that of the Poplar or Willow. But mature trees are 

 so subject to serious fungus-blight that a healthy, clean- 

 branched tree is rarely seen. In spite of these defects, both 

 Tulip and Plane trees deserve persistent trial and experiment. 



Fifty years ago, during the Silkworm craze, the Chinese 

 Ailanthus was extensively planted in the eastern cities. Its 

 rank growth, sub-tropical aspect, exemption from insects, and 

 its fresh foliage in spite of prolonged heat or drought, made it 

 very popular. Then came a reaction, so strong that the 

 tree is now virtually tabooed, all apparently because the 

 flowers have an unpleasant odor. But no tree has withstood 

 so persistently the onslaught of all the destructive influences 

 of a crowded street. Where the subsoil is porous its roots 

 penetrate to an extraordinary depth, and thus find food enough 

 under the closest pavements, and moisture enough during the 

 longest droughts. There is a place for the Ailanthus in every 

 large city, and that, if you give it no other, is the place where 

 no other tree will thrive. 



Americans despise " the day of small things." This national 

 foible is always prominent in the selection of trees for 

 street planting. The general practice is to procure the largest 

 trees that can be obtained and conveniently handled. If 

 nurserymen cannot or will not furnish them of suitable size, 

 they are procured from the neighboring woods if possible. It 

 is surprising and mortifying to every experienced grower of 

 trees, to see each spring the numerous wagon-loads which 

 countrymen bring in from swamps and thickets, and expose 

 for sale in our streets day after day with little or no protection 

 from sun and wind. They are usually much larger than the 

 most overgrown nursery stock, and the younger saplings 

 twice or thrice the height becoming to their age, but they are 

 bought in preference to the nurserymen's "small fry." The 

 only roots are a few stout prongs, and they are set out in the 

 smallest holes that will admit them, with the tree tops left 

 unpruned or entirely chopped off. They remain standing like 

 bean-poles for one or more years. Then they are pulled out 

 and other bean-poles stuck in their places. It is said "experi- 

 ence teaches fools," but on this subject they need many years 

 of schooling, else the class always under instruction would not 

 be so large. Trees grown in nurseries have needful qualities 

 of root, stem and branch, entirely lacking in the spindling 

 sapling that has struggled for life and light in a shady thicket. 

 But, of course, after being planted, the smaller the tree the 

 greater the risk of serious damage by accidents that would 

 be trifling to one of twice or thrice the size. This argument 

 is the clincher in all discussions on this point. For this reason 

 Elms, Maples, Horse-chestnuts, Poplars and Lindens are com- 

 monly preferred, as they can be successfully transplanted of a 

 much larger size than Tulip-trees, Oaks or any of the nut-bear- 

 ing trees. Yet the rule holds good, even in street planting, that 

 whatever kinds of trees may be selected, the youngest that 

 can be protected with a reasonable chance of safety ought to 

 be preferred. 



A common error is planting too near the curb-line and too 

 close together in the row. Any young tree within four feet 

 of the curb is ten times more likely to be gnawed by horses 

 than one twice as far back. The roots also should be con- 

 sidered and given a fair chance to spread on all sides. Ample 

 distance apart contributes not only to the health and sym- 

 metry of the tree, but also allows a pleasant play of sunshine 

 and breeze to the people on the street. Close planting may 

 look best for a few years, but the spread of the trees at 

 maturity should always be provided for. The future cutting 

 out of each alternate tree is a pleasing illusion, but in reality 

 a sad delusion, because it is so rarely done, and never done 

 soon enough. 



Some protective guard against ill-bred horses, worse-bred 

 boys, careless workmen on the street or adjacent lots, and the 

 daily run of miscellaneous accidents, is necessary for years. 

 Nothing yet invented is conveniently applicable to small trees 

 or always effective. A temporary railing on the curb line, 

 though unsightly, is more useful than a casing for each tree. 

 When the trunk becomes thick enough, a strip of fine galva- 

 nized wire netting wrapped loosely around it as far up as a 

 horse can reach is cheap, serviceable, neat, unobtrusive, and 



