208 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
THE CAROLINA POPLAR AS A CITY SHADE TREE 
For and Against; By A. T. Hastings, 
City Forester, Jersey City, N. J. 
The two fundamental problems that con- 
front the city undertaking the further beau- 
tification cf its streets and avenues with 
trees are the planting and maintenance of 
new trees and the treatment and care of 
existing trees. 
The planting of the proper varieties of 
young trees can be absolutely controlled by 
city authorities. By means of ordinances 
and their enforcement it can so control the 
planting of new trees that only the varieties 
most suitable will be used. By careful and 
efficient study of existing trees, noting par- 
ticularly those varieties that flourish and 
are ornamental and useful in spite of the 
necessarily adverse conditions of a city 
will give a positive and decided answer to 
the question, “What varieties to plant?” 
On the other hand, the trees that are found 
to be weak, full of dead wood, badly at- 
tacked by insects and disease, or weakened 
by soil or climatic conditions, or in any 
other aspect found to be wanting in beauty 
or usefulness, will amply answer the ques- 
tion, “What varieties not to plant?” A 
proper choice of varieties when planting 
new trees will to a great extent for future 
POPLAR BLOWN OVER AND STURDY 
NORWAY MAPLE UNTOUCHED. 
generations eliminate the problem of caring 
for trees of an unsuitable variety. But in 
the treatment of old trees no such choice 
can be made. The trees are there on the 
streets, many of them there for years, and 
the city 1 must necessarily consider them in 
their present condition. By proper and ef- 
ficient treatment the appearance and the 
health of the old trees may "be greatly im- 
proved. Pruning, cultivation, fertilizing, 
watering, spraying, removing of external 
agencies detrimental to growth, are all 
agencies to be employed with success. Each 
separate variety calls for specific treatment. 
The remarkable growth of interest in shade 
trees throughout this country has resulted 
in the rapid spread of knowledge on this 
subject. 
In many of the large cities of this coun- 
try, particularly in the East, the Carolina 
poplar, as it is commonly known, is found 
growing on the streets by the thousands. 
In Jersey City, N. J., there are close 
to twenty-five thousand Carolina poplars 
growing upon the streets out of a total of 
nearly forty thousand. Therefore, the ques- 
tion of the Carolina poplar as a city shade 
tree is pertinent. 
The Carolina poplar has been so univer- 
sally used because it is very easy to propa- 
gate, is very cheap, and very fast growing. 
A broken branch of an old Carolina poplar 
stuck into the ground will take root and 
in a few years transform itself into a 
healthy, growing tree. I can hear now the 
appeal of many people, “Oh, I want a tree 
for myself, not for my children”; “This 
tree came from a branch of that cdd one 
over there”; “So-and-so grew this tree in 
his back yard and gave it to me: most of 
the others on this street came from the 
same place”; “I can get a poplar for 
fifty cents and you want three dollars 
for a Norway maple.” Such statements 
as these are heard everywhere and 
show verj' clearly why the poplar is 
so extensively used. The Carolina pop- 
lar is a very peculiar tree; it is a fast 
grower, but : s short lived; the branches 
spread out rapidly, but arc very brittle and 
therefore in large trees dangerous, as they 
are liable to snap off during high winds. 
The leaves fall early in the summer, but 
have a peculiar varnished surface that 
prevents the smoke and dust of a city in- 
juring them. It is shallow rooted, hut has 
an enormous and persistent root growth, 
the roots often extending into basements 
and sewers. Tt is cheap in the beginning, 
hut expensive in the long run. Tt has a few' 
characteristics that make it an ideal tree 
for city conditions, and at the same time 
many characteristics make it the very poor- 
est, and these far outweigh the good 
points, for city conditions. It is an ideal 
tree for factory districts where the foliage 
of trees must withstand the smoke end dirt 
peculiar to such districts. Here it finds its 
only true place among city trees. 
However, whatever may be the specific 
values or defects of the Carolina poplar, 
the fact remains that the trees are on the 
streets in large numbers and in all degrees 
of size and usefulness and the city author- 
ity must pursue a determined policy of 
treating them or of eradicating them en- 
tirely. Right here arises a perplexing prob- 
lem for the authorities to solve. The quick- 
est and surest way of settling this 
question once for all is to remove the 
trees entirely as fast as possible; to 
chop them all down, good or bad, and 
to replace them wuth more suitable va- 
rieties. The pursuit of this policy would 
cause a near revolution amongst those 
citizens who regard their trees as a 
part of their homes. Those who have seen 
a young tree planted, and have seen it 
grow, year after year, until it has be- 
come to them a source of pleasure, would 
naturally protest against any policy that 
would seek to destroy this tree. There 
is no doubt that the city at large 
SHOWING SHALLOW ROOTS OF POP- 
LAR. 
