SPECIES FOR STREET-PLANTING 25 



white maple, its rapidity of growth is the only point consid- 

 ered by many persons and all its bad habits are lost sight of. 



One of the incongruities connected with the Carolina 

 poplar, that appear to any one who has studied this tree at 

 all, is the fact that its rapidity of growth, which is the char- 

 acteristic often sought, is something that the planter tries 

 to counteract soon after the tree is set out. In other words 

 the man who plants a poplar knows — or if he does not, the 

 nursery man will tell him — that the tree must be headed 

 back frequently to cause it to spread. The result is that 

 every year the limbs are cut back and the top is reduced 

 to a few stubs. 



In the meantime the trunk continues its growth, and after 

 a few years of such treatment the result is a tree of abnor- 

 mal shape — one that has a thick trunk and small top. So 

 far the tree has required constant attention, but it has not 

 given much shade nor has it been an object of beauty. On 

 the other hand, if a hard maple or other tree of like habit 

 and growth had been planted in its place it would have 

 produced naturally what, with the poplar, was attempted 

 artificially — namely, a medium-sized tree with a rounded, 

 compact head. 



If it is allowed to grow untouched the Carolina poplar in 

 a short time becomes too large for the average street. It 

 does not produce an oval head, but shoots upward to a great 

 height. The illustrations, Plate 6, Figs. 3 and 4; show the 

 comparative rates of growth of the Carolina poplar and the 

 Norway maple. In these cases, the trees were set out at the 

 same time, thirteen years ago, on opposite sides of the same 

 street. The Norway maples are now eight inches in diameter, 

 of medium height and of round-shaped head; whereas, the 

 Carolina poplars are twenty-one inches in diameter and have 



