51 
the American White Ash {Fraxinus americana) for the decoration of 
parks and roadsides and the production of timber. The European Ash 
{F. excelsior), which is a magnificent tree in some parts of Europe, is a 
miserable failure here, and the great Ash-tree of northeastern conti- 
nental Asia and northern Japan (F. mandshurica) can barely be kept 
alive in New England. 
European Birch-trees grow well in the northern states until they are 
attacked by a borer which destroys them by thousands. The slender 
drooping branches of Betula pendula make it an interesting and attract- 
ive object, but it is not as handsome a tree as the Canoe Birch {Betula 
papyrifera) which is the handsomest of the white-barked Birches, and 
in one of its forms exceeds all other Birch-trees in size. Betula Max- 
imowiczii, with pinkish bark and a native of northern Japan, is a hand- 
somer tree than the Canoe Birch. It has been growing in this country 
for a quarter of a century, and although it is perfectly hardy it is too 
soon to speak of its permanent value. 
The pale gray bark of the trunk and branches of the American Beech 
make it in winter the most beautiful of all Beech-trees, but as a 
planted tree it does not behave as well or grow as rapidly as the Euro- 
pean Beech which, in spite of its darker-colored bark is a better tree 
for the decoration of our parks. 
The northern Linden {Tilia glabra or americana) is a noble tree in 
northern forests where in deep moist soil it sometimes grows to the 
height of one hundred and thirty feet and forms a trunk four or five 
feet in diameter. It does not, however, take kindly to cultivation in 
a climate as warm as that of Massachusetts. Planted trees grow 
slowly here. The leaves are usually disfigured by red spiders and turn 
brown and fall during the summer. Little is known yet in cultivation 
of the Linden trees of the middle and southern states and a planter who 
wants Linden trees had best use some of the European species. There 
are five of these, and the three species of western Europe have been 
so thoroughly tested in the United States that it is possible to say they 
are among the most valuable trees which have been brought here from 
foreign countries. The most satisfactory of them here is Tilia vulga- 
ris, a widely distributed but rather rare tree in Europe; it is believed 
to be a natural hybrid between the other species of western Europe, 
T. platyhyllos and T. cordata. There are large specimens of T. vulgaris 
in the suburbs of Boston. 
No American Horsechestnut or Buckeye can compare in size or in 
the beauty of its flowers with the species of southwestern Europe 
{Aesculus Hippocastanum), which is well known to many Americans who 
have never heard there were Horsechestnut-trees growing naturally in 
the United States. The European Horsechestnut is another of the 
great trees of the world. It is as much at home here and grows to 
as large a size as it does in western Europe. Few trees have more 
conspicuous flowers or foliage of deeper green. It thrives, however, 
only in deep rich soil and usually resents city conditions. In some old 
gardens in Salem there are, however, as noble Horsechestnuts as can 
be found in the United States or Great Britain. It is a miserable 
