TREE PLANTING ON STREETS AND HIGHWAYS. I J 



be done to the exclusion of foreign ones. Some of the common trees on our streets 

 and highways, the Horse Chestnut, Ailanthus, and Lombardy Poplar for instance, 

 are introduced species which at one time were regarded as foreigners. It is fair to 

 assume that there are still others with beauty and useful qualities which would 

 render them welcome and enable them in time to take a place among our common 

 well-known trees. 



Undesirable Species. 



Some trees are omitted, not so much on account of doubtful qualities but 

 because the list already offers ample opportunity for selection from the large num- 

 ber named. There are, doubtless, several other species which might be planted with 

 satisfactory results, but many of them have defects which should be considered 

 carefully before making a selection. 



The Ash-leaved Maple, a short-lived tree, puts out its lower branches too near 

 the ground to permit its use on streets. The Canoe Birch does the same, and if 

 the lower branches were cut off the pyramidal form of the tree would be destroyed 

 and its beauty greatly impaired. The Kentucky Coffee Tree is so unsightly in 

 winter, resembling then a dead tree, that it is better omitted in street planting, 

 especially as it will thrive only in good moist ground. The European Ash lasts but 

 a few years in our climate, and is in no way superior to our American White Ash. 

 The Sour Gum or Pepperidge is a beautiful tree in autumn, but it is too apt to fail 

 in transplanting. The Mountain Ash and Flowering Dogwood are beautiful, but the 

 bright red berries of the one and attractive flowers of the other invite injury ; their 

 proper place, if on a street or road, is inside the fence and in some dooryard. The 

 Sycamore Maple has a fine appearance and dense shade, but with so many other 

 Maples, it is hardly needed ; like the Copper Beech and Schwedler's Crimson-leafed 

 Maple, its place is in the park or arboretum. The Yellow Wood is one of our 

 neatest, prettiest trees, with cream-colored flowers that attract swarms of bees when 

 in bloom ; but it has low branches, and its wood is so brittle that the trunk is very 

 apt to split downwards from where it first divides. The Paulownia, Koelreuteria, 

 and other exotics, beautiful and attractive as they are, should be reserved for private 

 grounds or secluded parkings where they can receive the care and attention which 

 they always require. The Carolina Poplar, or Cottonwood, is often recommended 

 because of its very rapid growth ; but this tree sheds a downy, cottony tuft which 

 clings to the clothing of passers-by, causing so much annoyance that, in many towns, 



