CHAPTER IX 
CARE IN THE CHOICE OF PLANT MATERIAL 
MeILTHOUGH this book is not designed to be a 
«Z| guide in the laying out and planting of grounds, 
it seemed nevertheless germane and desir- 
able to add a chapter on the selection of plant 
material, inasmuch as the after-care is to some extent influ- 
enced by the original choice of trees. Much trouble can be 
avoided in caring for trees, if the right kinds of trees have 
been planted, since, as we have seen, the different species 
are more or less liable to damage by insect pests, fungi, 
and other injury, are more or less resistant, are more or less 
hardy, more or less adaptable to unfavorable situations, 
more or less easily kept in satisfactory form and condition. 
To be sure, if we were to plant only those which are 
entirely free from troubles, the list would be a small one, 
and the gratification of our tastes would be scanty. Yet 
one should at least know what to expect by going beyond 
this select list of the few species. 
Looking through the following enumeration we shall 
find that, after all, a large number of species are practically 
free from trouble, if properly placed and tended. We must, 
however, realize what has been intimated in another chap- 
ter, namely, that insect pests and infections, 7.¢., fungus 
diseases, have an opportunity for spreading when the same 
host plant is multiplied. A city of elms, for example, is 
naturally apt to become a city of elm-beetles, the elm other- 
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