HICKS NURSERIES, WESTBURY, L. I. 



DECIDUOUS TREES 



BEECH • Fagus 



Nobody finds any fault with the Beech at any stage of its growth. It grows as rapidly as the Norway or Sugar 

 Maples. The only trouble has been that nurserymen had but few of them, and a large per cent died in transplanting; 

 the balance grew slowly for two years. 



We have overcome these difficulties. There is a theory that the roots of a fungus work in partnership with the 

 Beech roots to get food from the soil. This may be the reason why moving Beeches with a ball of earth is more 

 successful. Ours are root-pruned for moving this way. If moved without a ball of earth, Beeches need very severe 

 pruning, reducing the number of buds 90 per cent. The writer rarely sees a Beech pruned for transplanting without 

 wanting to prune it more. 



A Beech will start out in full leaf in May, but make very few new roots. In July, after a few days of drought, 

 the leaves w^ll fall and the tree will not recover. On the other hand, a Maple, Elm or Willow will make new roots in 

 May and June, and if the leaves do fall in July they can start again after the first rain. Perhaps the reason is that 

 the wood of the Beech is close-grained and the sap circulates slowly. These remarks apply with equal force to the 

 Oaks. You know the Oaks and Beeches are among the best trees; we will do all we can to make them succeed, but 

 you should do your share in close pruning, watering and mulching for the first two years. Then you will have trees 

 of which you may be proud. 



American. F. ferruginea. Apart from its beauty of 

 form and foliage, there is that about its smooth, gray bark 

 which gives one the feeling of wondrous strength in re- 

 pose. We have a magnificent stock of sturdy, broad trees, 

 6, 8, and 10 feet high. These are branched to the ground, 

 but have single leaders so that you can trim them up for 

 shade trees. 



English, or European. F. sylvatica. This is one of 

 the few European trees that seem perfectly at home here, 

 the foliage never being damaged by insects or fungi. It 

 promises to be just as long-lived as any of our native 

 trees. Its foliage is darker green in the summer and 

 darker brown in the winter than the American Beech. 

 If you want proof that it is a rapid-growing tree, look at 

 those on the north side of the turnpike opposite our 

 nursery, planted about 30 years ago. They are 50 feet 

 high, 40 feet spread, and 22 inches diameter. 



Their most important use, however, is in boundary 

 plantations where their low branches, retaining the russet 

 foliage all the year, make a screen far more dignified than 

 the usual mixed shrubbery. A grOve of 

 Beech, Oak, Pine and Hemlock will give 

 pleasure now, and 200 years from now be 

 a monument to its designer. If you have 

 a border of large shrubbery put in .^omc of 

 these handsome trees. 



Rivers' Purple. F. sylvatica, var. purpurea River sii. 

 This is the best purple tree. It has large foliage of black- 

 purple or reddish color which is very striking in May 

 and June, and changes to a dark green in July and 

 August. This variety has the brightest color and holds it 

 the longest. When young, the tree is rather open and 

 graceful in growth. It will probably be one of the last of 

 the abnormally colored trees to go out of favor. The 

 Copper Beech is nearly the same in color, but has smaller 

 leaves and is a considerably denser tree. 



European Weeping. F. sylvatica, var. pendula. When 

 young it is an upright fountain-like tree with straight 

 trunk and branches waving downward. When old, it is 

 like a great tent, but cool and dim. No more restful 

 and refreshing place can be imagined than an arbor formed 

 by one of these unique trees. 



Fern- leaved. F. sylvatica, var. heterophylla. A tree 

 worthy of a place in most large plantings, and which will 

 never become commonplace. It is as valuable decorating 

 out-of-doors as the maidenhair fern is in the conservatory. 



Its lights and shadows are always 

 pleasing to the eye, and its spirited 

 outline adds a touch of vivacity to 

 M' the composition 



without being in- 

 harmonious. 



English Beech. In the foreground, Fern-leaved Beech. These both make broad, low-branched specimens. With our tree- 

 moving apparatus, we have thinned out some of this group to prevent crowding. 



On the left, the ground drops off sharply, but it is built up by a thick border of shrubbery, the front row being Japanese 

 Barberry, and back of it, the Laburnum. Here are the two types of low foliage planting — low-foliaged trees and masses of 

 shrubs. 



Entrance drive to the residence of Mr. Charles Steele, Westbury, Long Island. 



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