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A PLEA FOR MORE STREET TREES 



selection of varieties planted is quite as desirable. Over 

 old fences, in fence corners, along winding drives and 

 agiinst out - buildings which it is desirable partly to 

 hide, the Kosa scfiffcra is one of the prettiest plants 

 imaginable. The foliage is naturally fresh and bright, 

 though Mr. Mason, of the Kansas Agricultural College, 

 tells me that it is sometimes severely attacked by a fun- 

 gus which spots the leaves so badly as greatly to injure 

 their appearance. The original species as it grows wild 

 in the pasture is kept by the best nurserymen. 



The accompanying illustrations (pages 196, 197) repre- 

 sent a plant growing singly against the foot of some Aus- 

 trian pines, in the bend of the long drive which winds up 

 the hill to the main building of the Kansas State Agricul- 

 tural College. These illustrations show the profusion of 

 flowers, which last upon it for some time, and the char- 

 acteristics of the individual buds, flowers and leaflets. 

 The plant in all its parts is most attractive to anyone who' 

 sees beauty in informality. 



A'ansas. F. A. Waugh. 



A PLEA FOR MORE STREET TREES. 



WITH HINTS FOR SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT. 



ITH the improvement of American 

 highways arises the tree question. 

 For a quarter of a century our Rural 

 Art Association has had the planting 

 of trees when the people neglected 

 their duty. The result is an unusual 

 number of elms, maples, pines, etc. ; 

 but most of them exhibit decay. The 

 maple has been most planted, and is 

 the most defective ; not one in thirty 

 is sound. The maple is symmetrical and has fine foliage, 

 yet it is not healthy for street planting under ordinary 

 conditions. If transplanted when not more than 10 feet 

 high, a maple will develop handsomely and wholesomely. 

 I can find a row thus set that shows but two defective 

 trees in fifty. When the trees are set, at fifteen to twenty 

 feet high, and cut back and new heads formed, the new 

 growth rarely has sufficient health to prevent decayed 

 spots or enfeebled limbs. Nor will the maple endure the 

 ordinary cutting of large limbs. Some authority decides 

 that our shade-trees must be " trimmed up." Ths saw is 

 set to work in the hands of men incapable of sympathiz- 

 ing with a tree. Rot sets in, and in ten years a fine row 

 is in its decrepitude. Good trees should be in prime 

 condition for a hundred years. I have seen the planting, 

 growth and ruin of rows of street trees inside of fifty years. 



Our avenues of elms are in much better condition. 

 These wounds have healed better, and seldom has decay 

 set in at the point of excision. The chief care needful 

 with the elm is to select a free-grower, and so to time the 

 trimming that there will not be a main crotch. If thio 

 occurs, the tree may split under great weight of limbs. 

 Elms possess marked individual characteristics. Some 

 send off long graceful limbs ; others of the same variety 

 grow stocky, or even bushy. A few send out their main 

 limbs quite horizontally, and are worse than worthless. 

 Those that grow too erect are also to be rejected. Select 

 those of clean growth, not too bushy, and with limbs of 

 fine drooping contour. 



My choice of street trees would lead to a free use of 

 the American linden, or basswood. It is one of the 

 grandest trees we have. It bears transplanting well, 

 takes on a fine full head, has foliage unsurpassed for 



shade, and grows with great rapidity. And what is finer 

 than the fragrance of a grove of lindens in bloom ? It is 

 a wholesome odor that delights a tired mortal. Why 

 plant an ailantus, which offends and annoys, instead of a 

 linden, which charms and soothes? The color of the lin- 

 den is fine, and the shade dense. Further, if the linden 

 were generally planted our honey crop might be increased 

 by millions of pounds. The music of the bees in the blos- 

 soming season would alone pay us for trees. 



White ash has the one disadvantage of greening very 

 late in spring, and becomes bare again early in the fall. 

 It grows with moderate rapidity, takes on a fine form, 

 and, best of all, its wounds heal. It has been occasion- 

 ally attacked by borers, as have also the maples and 

 beeches, but these may be prevented by piling coal-ashes 

 about the roots, and by scraping the bark. It is a healthy, 

 stout, noble tree. As to early loss of foliage, we need 

 shade in summer and sunshine in autumn. 



The beech is not generally suited to our streets, be- 

 cause for perfection it should branch quite low. It is a 

 perfect park tree. A beech park is a paradise. The tree 

 is tough, healthy, wholesome and sweet. 



The whitewood or tulip-tree is another noble candidate 

 for public favor wherever it thrives, and that is over a 

 wide territory. 



The oak is worthy of all possible praise if set when 

 quite young and carefully protected for a few years. I 

 know specimens of the scarlet oak that are as fine as any- 

 thing ever planted along a highway. This tree can be 

 obtained of nurserymen, in large quantities at reasonable 

 rates. Its bright color lasts only a short time in the fall ; 

 but its summer green is beautiful, dense, and fully equal 

 to that of any other oak. 



Norway maple deserves especial notice as surpassing 

 all the rest. It grows with astonishing rapidity, and I 

 have yet to find any tree of any sort that shows such 

 deep dark green. It inclines to lower its limbs with age, 

 making a superb lawn or park tree ; but it is almost as 

 good for the street. It grows fully twice as fast as the 

 sugar-maple, and yet is stout and solid. 



More care is necessary in selecting street trees. In 

 planting they should be staked, tied and mulched. The 

 best mulch is coal-ashes, put on liberally. Street trees 



