September, 1907 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



69 



sixty to eighty feet. It is a perfect tree for 

 general planting on either moderately wet 

 or dry soils and is a clean tree — that is, it 

 does not scatter its leaves gradually through- 

 out the season but holds them until the fall 

 is well marked, when they are shed in a 

 short time. 



The sugar maple has a picturesque beauty 

 of its own in the early spring, when the entire 

 head becomes a mass of golden yellow flowers 

 which can be seen for miles. Like the elm, 

 it does not add greatly to the color pageant 

 in the fall as does its near ally, the Norway 

 maple (Acer platanoides) which assumes one 

 of the most brightly colored yellows of the 

 season. So much so that the Norway maple 

 is often planted as a lawn specimen for which, 

 of course, it is really too big, as it will attain 

 a height of fifty feet. 



For comparatively late leafing, where as 

 much of the early summer sunshine as pos- 

 sible is wanted, plant the white oak (Quercus 

 alba), which lives as long as any of the other 

 trees mentioned and very slowly reaches an 

 ultimate height of about eighty feet. It 

 makes rather a spreading head, becoming 

 one of the most effective trees for shade in 

 the course of years. It should be planted 

 always with the idea of the ultimate benefit 

 to posterity. 



The very quickest growing shade tree and 

 the one also to be recommended for the worst 

 soils and situations, is the Carolina poplar 

 (Populus deltoides, var. Caroliniensis). There 

 may be some difference in opinion as to the 

 propriety of including this in the best 

 twelve trees, but the fact remains that it is 

 the most highly esteemed of all shade trees 

 in crowded city districts where better air and 

 soil are at a minimum. The Carolina poplar 

 can hardly be killed and has the great merit 

 of being able, not only to grow, but actually 

 to flourish where nothing else can exist. 



The broad spreading American elm is the very best native shade tree, especially in New England 



For shallow, wet lands, plant the pin oak 

 (Quercus palustris). It may not live as long 

 as the white oak, but it will give its best effect 

 much sooner and it has the further merit 

 of being one of the most easily shifted of 

 all trees. I recently saw, in Madison, N. J., 

 over ioo specimens that had been moved 

 from the woods when thirty feet high, and 

 transplanted to form an avenue. Each tree 

 had been cut back to the uniform height of 

 eighteen feet, the branches lopped off and 

 the bare poles planted with good care. They 

 came through last winter successfully, not 

 even one tree showing the slightest ill effects. 

 The pin oak will reach a height of eighty 

 to ioo feet, and will quickly throw out new 

 branches if it has to suffer pruning in any 

 way. 



As a tree combining both excellent 

 flowering qualities and perfect shade, the 

 horse chestnut (/Esctdus Hippocastanum) 

 appeals above all others. Its foot-long 

 thyrse of bloom, practically white, makes this 

 the most wonderfully showy of all the early 

 flowering summer trees. It casts a dense, 

 generous shade, and if left to itself, its lower 

 branches will droop to a height of ten feet 

 from the ground and perhaps even less. It 

 is not recommended for wet soils because of 

 the absolutely dense canopy of leafage that 

 it makes, defying the penetration of the sun- 

 shine; nor should it be planted as a shade 

 tree in streets because of the temptation to 

 passersby to capture its flowers, thus often 

 breaking the limbs. Another thing to be 

 counted against the horse chestnut is the fact 



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A common type of our native elm that is excellent 

 near the home for roof shade 



The rock maple's only fault is the production of (oo 

 many brunches. Attend to it w-hen young 



There is no better flovyering shade tree than the 

 horse chestnut, but the nuts in the fall maKe it dirty 



