Street and Shade Trees. 39 



and thickets aud expose for sale in our streets day after day, with 

 little or no protection from sun aud wind. They are usually much 

 larger than the most overgrown nursery stock, and the younger sap- 

 lings 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 

 lioles that will admit them, with the tree tops left unpruned or en- 

 tirely chopped off. They remain standing like bean poles for one or 

 more years ! Then they are pulled out and other bean poles stuck 

 iu their places. It is said " eJiperience teaches fools, " but on this 

 subject they need many -years of schooling, else the class always 

 under instruction would not be so large. 



Nurserymen preach against this practice incessantly. But the 

 fools think they see through their selfish tricks, and are too wise to 

 be gulled so easily. But they cannot see the potent facts that trees 

 grown in nurseries have needful qualities of root, stem and branch 

 entirely lacking in the spindling saplings that have struggled for life 

 and light in a shady thicket. The nursery plant is forced into vigor- 

 ous growth from the start by providing rich soil, ample space, fre- 

 quent cultivation to induce fibrous roots near the stem, and special 

 training of the plant to an ideal standard of strength and symmetry. 

 When sold it can be dug up with most of its roots uncut, and the 

 small wounds are easily healed. Thus the risk of death by trans- 

 planting is very slight, and with careful work there need not be much 

 check to the tree, but yet the younger the better. Of course after 

 being planted, the smaller the tree the greater the risk of serious dam- 

 age 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 so commonly 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 what- 

 ever kinds of trees be selected, the youngest that can be protected 

 with a reasonable chance of safety ought to be preferred. 



In street planting, sufficient account is rarely taken of the fact that 

 if no grade has been established the position may be too high or too 

 low or too near the future curb line. Or if the street be graded, of 



