Along the Lakeside — Third Excursion 



is too wide-spreading for the situation. Again, the maple 

 is a rapid grower ; some trees would require twenty or 

 thirty years to attain the size of a ten-year-old maple ; 

 this secures shade and ornament in the briefest period 

 after planting. The fast-growing cottonwood, which 

 has many of the maple's virtues, is also coming into 

 popularity, as may be seen in the recent plantings of 

 many New York streets. An important element in the 

 effectiveness of the maple is the configuration of its leaf. 

 This tree shows an endless gradation of greens, and a 

 certain lightness of effect, even in the densest foliage, 

 both resulting largely from the shape of the leaf. A 

 street lined with the horse-chestnut, linden, or catalpa 

 would present a very different and heavy appearance. 

 The eye is pleased by the maple's beautiful blending of 

 soft tones, its endless alternation of light and shade. 

 But if the leaf were as small as in the white birch or 

 the common aspen, the shade would not be thick enough. 

 And lastly, the normal height of the maple prevents its 

 overgrowth in streets of usual width ; but in exception- 

 ally broad avenues, as in old country towns, recourse 

 must be had to the lofty, wide-spreading elm. 



Besides our three native species — red or soft, sugar or 

 rock, and white or silver-leaf — two from Europe, the 

 Norway and sycamore maples, are now widely used in 

 street and lawn. The leaf-type of these is much the 

 same, but darker and larger, especially in the Norway. 

 Neither is handsomer than a fine sugar maple, but the 

 advantage of the foreign sorts — a peculiarity common, 

 by the way, to most imported species — is, that they 

 come into leaf about two weeks earlier, and retain their 

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