182 Care in Planting Trees 
trees, will not be amiss, for it is a difficult question, and 
rarely discussed with good reasons. 
The object to be attained and the character of the plant 
material must form the basis for consideration. In forest 
growing, with small plant material, where the immediate 
object is as soon as possible to secure a close soil cover, 
and the ultimate object to secure branchless boles, the spac- 
ing is kept between three and six feet, rarely wider, whereby 
both objects are best secured, when of the 1,500 to 5,000 plants 
set out on an acre, not more than 250 to 350 are expected 
or allowed to live till harvest time. 
In ornamental planting we have to consider also the 
immediate and the future effects, which, through the growth 
of the trees, change continually. The landscape gardener 
must foresee the ultimate relations into which the plant 
material will grow, the final sky line which it will produce, 
but if he planted solely with reference to that future, he 
would miss producing iinmediate, or at least early, pleasing 
effects. Like the forester, therefore, he must plant more 
than is finally to remain. He deliberately designs to remove 
at the proper time some of the trees which he has set out 
in order to preduce effects before they have attained their 
full stature. The failure of the future manager of a park 
in applying the axe at the proper time has spoiled the artistic 
design of a Downing in the Smithsonian grounds in Wash- 
ington, and is spoiling many other parks in this country, 
wherever a monkey love of trees on the part of the public 
has tied the hands of the manager and he dare not disturb 
the original planting. 
There are two methods of using trees in ornamental plant- 
ing, namely, either in groups, or in single specimens. Closer 
spacing 1s indicated in the former, wider spacing in the lat- 
ter case. Where specimen trees are planted they should 
