149 
PARK AND 
CEMETERY . 
For next year it is planned to spray all the elm trees 
of the city as soon as the foliage develops. The capacity 
of the present machine will be entirely inadequate to 
accomplish the work within two or three weeks, when 
the spraying must be done. A census has been taken 
and it is found that there are about 900 large elm trees 
on the city streets. Some of these trees are the most 
beautiful in the city. If they were destroyed by the pest 
it would take a great many years to replace them, hence 
it will be necessary to purchase another machine. The 
Commission is making all preparations in its power to 
attack the Elm Leaf Beetle as soon as the leaves develop. 
There have been only two arrests during the year for 
violation of the ordinance relating to the protection of 
growing trees, such as the Soft Maple and the Carolina 
■Poplar has been prohibited. In the pruning of trees, too, 
the street is treated as a unit and all the trees are pruned 
to a uniform height, so that low branches will not inter- 
fere with traffic nor obstruct street lights. 
The citizens are beginning to recognize the wisdom 
of the methods employed by the Shade Tree Commis- 
sion. At the beginning of its work the Board met with 
opposition when anouncement was made that certain 
streets would be planted with Pin Oaks, Red Oaks and 
other hardy varieties. The people wanted “quick grow- 
ing trees,” like the Carolina Poplar. The streets planted 
with Pin Oaks, however, show up beautifully. 
Especially in the more recently developed sections of 
STREET PLANTED WITH PIN OAKS BY THE SHADE TREE COMMISSION IN APRIL, 1905. 
Photo taken in August, 1908. 
shade trees passed by the Shade Tree Commission last 
year. This fact speaks well for the public interest in 
caring for the city trees. Special watchfulness was neces- 
sary on streets where building operations were carried on 
to see that no injury was done to trees. The builders 
needed constant warnings to protect the trees. 
The office work of mapping the old and new trees on 
streets improved by planting has been continued. Dead 
trees have been removed wherever occurring and the ce- 
menting of injured trees has been carried on as the neces- 
sity of special cases demanded and as the funds of the 
Commission permitted. The Commission always holds it- 
self in readiness to attend to any complaints in regard to 
street trees and to extend to citizens expert advice. 
The principles of shade tree planting which this Com- 
mission has advocated are the use of only hardy trees, 
the setting out of only one species on a street, and the 
placing of specimens sufficiently far apart to allow for 
full development in growth. The planting of trashy, quick 
the city, where the houses are built near together and 
close to the street line, and where there is not much 
of front lawn, the work of the Commission is telling. 
The planting of fine hardy trees not only increases the 
value of the property so improved, but also relieves the 
harshness of the perspective of a row of bare buildings. 
In the planting and care of trees it is a very important 
matter to enlist the help of the children. On Arbor Day 
under the direction of the Superintendent, the grounds 
of the Eastern School were improved by the transplant- 
ing of large elm trees, the planting of a 250-foot hedge 
of Rose of Sharon and the laying out of six beds of 
shrubbery. On Arbor Day a tree was planted with ap- 
propriate ceremonies by the pupils of the Franklin School. 
The expenditures of the Commission for the year 
amounted to $6,911. 
The officers of the Commission are: Alfred P. Boiler, 
President; Edward M. Colie, and Ernest H. Bennett. 
Wiliam SolotarofT is Secretary and Superintendent. 
