168 A SELECTION OF THE BEST TREES. 



At first sight there seems little reason why the somewhat 

 despised and roughly treated Robinia, or Acacia, as it is 

 sometimes called, should come in after such stately and 

 noble trees as the Plane and the Chestnut ; but, taking the 

 varieties as well as the original tree into consideration, I 

 have no hesitation in giving it this rank, knowing it to be 

 as well adapted for the smallest town garden as for the 

 largest public park. Naturally it is not such a strong- 

 growing tree as the Lime, while it may be cut in to keep it 

 neater than it usually grows. 



To many lines of suburban houses a thin line of trees is 

 a great improvement, and forms the only species of garden 

 embellishment of which they are capable. The qualities 

 necessary in such trees are perfect hardiness, healthy con- 

 stitution, and size and habits suited to the positions for which 

 we require them. I know of no tree that combines these 

 better than the spineless round-headed variety of the 

 Robinia (R. inermis), and it is a very elegant object all 

 through the season. It is, to be sure, somewhat dearer 

 than the Lime and such trees; but the difference in 

 appearance is such that nobody would refuse the difference 

 in money, even for the improved appearance of the trees 

 during a single year. It is usually grafted on straight 

 stems, six feet to eight feet high, which support the 

 umbrella-like heads and their mass of graceful, healthy 

 green leaves. With a little cutting in now and then, they 

 never become an inch too high. 



Perhaps the most beautiful and appropriate city trees 

 I have ever seen are those formed by the round-headed 

 Robinias in the cities of Northern Italy ; their grace, dense 

 and grateful shade, and deep verdure being perfect. I 

 measured several thirty feet in diameter of head, and with 

 a bole a foot or more through, the heads being picturesque 

 and somewhat irregular from age, while preserving their 

 compactness and valuable shading properties. It would be 

 impossible to find a greater advance upon the hideous lines 

 of clipped Limes so common in France than is presented 

 by these trees at Novara and other cities and towns in 

 North Italy. But as we have no proof that as good a 



