The tulip tree is (he ideal of the Hudson Valley, 

 southwards. Plant only young trees 



The blacK walnut thrives throughout the West and 

 on heavy soils in the Eastern Stiles 



The pin oak transplants most easily and thrives 

 on shallow rather wet lands 



The Best Twelve Shade Trees— By Leonard Barron, Y N e , 



SHADE trees serve two distinct purposes. 

 First, they afford shelter on the 

 ground underneath, and secondly, afford 

 shelter to some nearby object. For either 

 purpose the same trees will answer equally 

 well, provided always that we are not con- 

 sidering evergreens; but evergreens should 

 be regarded as shelters, perhaps, rather 

 than shade trees. 



, My idea of a shade tree is one that is grown 

 for the protection it gives from the sun's 

 rays during the summer time; therefore, any 

 tree to qualify in this class must be fairly 

 quick growing to a certain height, long lived 

 ja.fter it reaches that height. It must not be 

 too late in leafing in the spring (for which 

 reason the catalpa, with all its merits 

 as a grateful shade tree, is excluded from 

 my twelve) and it must hold its leaves reason- 



ably long. It should be free from insects 

 and adapted to a fairly wide range of soils, 

 and the branches must have a good spread 

 so that a comparatively large area of ground 

 is shaded by the individual tree. 



It is too much to expect all these good 

 points to be combined in one tree, but there 

 are many which include a majority of them. 

 In many cases about the home, there is not 

 room for more than one shade tree, and 

 nothing throughout the whole of the Northern 

 United States and the East surpasses, or 

 indeed equals, our native elm (Ulmus Ameri- 

 cana), which seems to have been placed on 

 the earth for the express purpose of giving 

 shade. It is the characteristic tree of New 

 England and answers the requirements in 

 all respects, except that of freedom from 

 insects. The elm leaf beetle has indeed 



The great spread of the white oaK makes it an ideal tree but it is of slow growth 



68 



become a serious pest of this glorious tree, 

 but there is reasonable hope that it can be 

 subdued by prompt and insistent attention, 

 and already it is not regarded as being such 

 a menace to our countrysides as it was a 

 few years ago. 



One reason why the American elm is the 

 best of all shade trees is that it is perhaps 

 the quickest growing of the dozen, with the 

 exception of the Carolina poplar. It will 

 attain a height of ioo feet and will outlive 

 generations. 



The Y-shaped form of tree casts the mini- 

 mum of continuous dense shade on the ground 

 immediately surrounding it, but is generous 

 in the service it renders when planted near a 

 building. Owing to its peculiar formation, 

 it can be used for a very effective shading 

 of the roof and upper floors. 



The elm prefers a deep, moist, agricultural 

 soil and has the advantage of being easily 

 transplanted, with seeming indifference 

 whether from wet to dry or from dry to wet. 



The rock, or sugar maple (Acer saccharum) 

 competes with the elm along the southern 

 line of distribution of the latter and about 

 New York is equally as good and vigorous 

 a tree. It is more commonly planted than 

 the elm nowadays, but it does not compare 

 with the elm in its total number of good 

 points. The maple is subject to a very 

 destructive borer and it has a tendency to 

 make a far too densely branched head. If 

 young sugar maples are planted out, they 

 should receive careful attention during the 

 first few years, with special thought toward 

 thinning out the superfluous branches which 

 are sure to be developed. A looser head will 

 give better shade, practically because it does 

 not completely obscure the sunshine, but 

 allows a little to filter through from time to 

 time and so the benefit of the sun's rays is 

 received in some degree on the shaded spot. 

 The sugar maple attains a height of from 



