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The Caxoltna poplars were too large wrben planted, and tliey are too close together Catalpa speciosa groves quickly and lias shovry flOTvers. Good for narrow streets 



What Chicago is Doing for its Trees— By j. H. Pmst, 



City 

 Forester 



HOW ONE MAN HAS AROUSED THE INDIVIDUAL CITIZEN TO ACTION AND TO AN APPRECIATION OF 

 WHAT TREE PLANTING MEANS TO THE CITY'S BEAUTY AND HEALTH — TREES THAT WILL THRIVE 



[Editor's Note. — -As a resxilt of a movement instituted by the Chicago's Woman Club, an ordinance to provide for "the planting, preservation, 

 control and culture of trees and shrubber\' in the public streets" was adopted b}' the Chicago City Council. In 2vlay, 1909, Mr. J. H. Prost was 

 appointed forester, the first city official of the kind in the Middle West. He occupies the unique position of being city forester for a city of over two millions 

 population, with no money to spend and no assistants, as the city refuses to appropriate any money for his department. Yet, wath this handicap, he has 

 done great things, by teaching; he gives up his evenings to delivering free lectures an^'^vhere the people show a desire to listen to him. ^^'hat he has 

 accomplished under this peculiar condition is worth the telling, and is best heard in his own words. The problem in any large city is much like that of another, 

 and the lessons learned in Chicago will be of help elsewhere.] 



\^Y7'E ARE bringing tlie garden's beauty 

 ' ^ back to our city! Chicago's motto 

 is Urbs in horto — a city in a garden — 

 but this motto has not been lived up to. 

 Of late, I have spread constantly the slogan 

 "Plant a tree." As a result, uniform plant- 

 ing of shade-trees has been done on a number 

 of streets where previously the children 



played on dusty pavements with no shade 

 except that furnished by grimy buildings. 

 Forty neighborhood improvement associa- 

 tions have taken up the work, and a desire for 

 betterment of home surroundings has spread 

 rapidly, being most marked — strange as 

 it may seem — in districts where the people 

 have only moderate means. In some neigh- 



The city ordinances permit the planting of only one kind of tree in one street. 



of the very best trees for the Middle West 



The American elm, one 



borhoods the only way in which tree-planting 

 could be secured was by raising money by 

 subscription among the well-to-do. The city 

 plants nothing. 



One of the greatest obstacles to new plant- 

 ing is the great number of dead trees, more 

 than 3,000 by actual count being found in 

 the streets. In addition, there are thousands 

 partly dead and badly in need of attention. 

 These dead, dpng, and unsightly trees con- 

 tinually evoke criticism. 



When one realizes that the elements 

 entering into the wholesale killing of trees 

 never had been thoroughly investigated 

 or systematically remedied, the magnitude 

 of the task of the city forester can be appre- 

 ciated. Most of the residents want trees, 

 but believe it is useless to plant them. It 

 is hard to overcome this prejudice; but 

 property owners, after they have seen trees 

 growing two or three seasons, are ready 

 to believe planting can be done successfully, 

 and are glad to seek the information. Pam- 

 phlets, lectures, and personal solicitation — 

 all are employed to further the work. 



Previous lack of municipal control has per- 

 mitted citizens to use trees for hitching-posts 

 and horse-feed, and mutilate them beyond 

 repair. In many cases large roots have been 

 cut off in la}-ing curbing, sidewalks, and pave- 

 ments or in excavating for service pipes. 

 These trees were left without proper trim- 

 ming of the top to balance loss of root. 

 Another mutilation is "butchering" done by 

 men ignorant of the principles governing 

 tree growth. Whole avenues of ^-aluable 

 trees have been ruined in this way. Many 

 other trees are injured by charged electric 



18 



