40 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
the value of trees on highways is fully recognized by all pro- 
gressive people and communities, and that it is the prevailing 
sentiment of the present age that street trees should be owned, 
planted, controlled and maintained by the authorities having 
charge of the highways on which they stand, or by other com- 
missions having special authority over the street trees other 
than the Street Department. 
The advantages of municipal ownership and control over 
individual ownership and management are very evident. Mu- 
nicipal ownership means systematic, uniform, practical and 
economical development and treatment, it means proper care 
at the proper time which is of the utmost importance in regard 
to the devastating attacks of insects and fungus pests. It 
means improved appearance of our streets in all parts of the 
city. It means, last but not least, a better sanitary condition 
for the people as a whole, for medical authorities agree that 
the cultivation of trees in streets mitigates the intense heat 
of the summer and diminishes the death rate of children, for 
the trees give shade, and the foliage inhales carbonic acid and 
exhales oxygen. 
The report then takes up the condition of trees in 
Hartford, and notes a lack of good management in 
the general treatment, including such faults as unsys- 
tematic spacing, neglect of thinning, pruning and com- 
bating insect pests. Trees should not be planted closer 
than at intervals of 40 or 50 feet, says the committee, 
and continues as follows with directions for planting : 
On the whole, the ideal location for a line of street trees 
is between the property line and the traveled walk. When 
they are planted between the traveled walk and the curb they 
are nearer the dangers which menace them front the street. 
Placed thus they are within the reach of horses, evidence of 
their destructive gnawing being altogether too common. The 
roots are nearer the influence of escaping gas, both illuminat- 
ing and sewer, and large vital ones which may have extended 
into the roadway are liable to be cut off whenever the streets 
are dug up. On the other hand if placed between the traveled 
walk and the property line these dangers are pretty well elim- 
inated, and there is the advantage that the roots can readily 
find their way into the adjoining land, and do not have to con- 
tend with the asphalt, macadam, or other unsuitable material 
which may be in the roadway. However, there are cases where 
on account of the existing layout, it will be impossible to plant 
trees elsewhere than between the curb and the traveled walk, as 
for instance, where the inside grass strip is two feet wide and 
where the outside strip is nine feet wide ; two feet not being 
wide enough. Five feet ought to be the minimum width. Trees 
placed in the middle of a nine-foot strip are removed from the 
immediate reach of horses, and if the soil is of good quality 
and sufficiently deep, say two feet, ought, unless untoward 
circumstances arise, to do fairly well. 
The list of trees adapted to city conditions is a limited one. 
The Ailanthus is pre-eminently the tree which stands more 
adverse city conditions than any other. Smoke and gas do 
not seem to affect it, apparently no insects attack it, and 
it will live and grow in a dry location amid asphalt and other 
pavements. Although for beauty it is not of the first order, 
it ought, for the foregoing reasons, to' be quite extensively 
used. Others similarly constituted are the cottonwood, white 
poplar and some forms of willow. Next are the European 
linden and the English elm, both of which are tougher in 
this respect than the American species. All things consid- 
ered the best tree for the semi-urban and the suburban parts 
of the city, where it will have enough room, and where the 
soil is at least fairly good is the American elm. Its advan- 
tages are a high but not too dense shade, the ease with which 
wires can be passed through its branches, its rapidity of 
growth and the beautiful gothic way in which its limbs over- 
arch a street. Its advantages are its lateness in putting out its 
leaves, its habit of shedding them continuously from about 
the middle of the summer onward, its earliness in losing them 
altogether, and its liability to attack by the elm leaf beetle. 
Although the habitat of the American elm is a moist locality, 
it does well even if planted where the ground is somewhat 
dry, seemingly having the power to send its roots a great 
distance in quest of water. The English elm, however, has 
proven in other cities to adapt itself much better to unfavor- 
able city conditions such as smoke and gas and excessive 
drainage of the soil. It also holds its leaves during a longer 
period. Its worst fault is its greater attractiveness for the elm 
leaf beetle than even the American elm. Nevertheless it can 
be highly recommended as a street tree for the city of Hart- 
ford. Some other trees for the suburban portions of the city 
are red, scarlet, black and pin oaks, horse chestnuts, hack- 
berry, silver and red maples and black walnut. Of all the 
trees frequently planted, the rock maple is probably the worst, 
although as a park tree it is one of the first merit. It is one 
of the first trees to succumb to urban conditions as the city 
reaches out into the country. If it is planted thickly along a 
street, and thrives, its shade is too dense. The smallness and 
multitude of its branches make it difficult to treat it to allow 
telephone wires to pass through. Linemen say that it is abso- 
lutely essential that not the least twig be allowed to touch 
such wires. In order to prevent this in the case of the rock 
maple there is no other way than to cut a great hole in the 
heart of the mass of branches, and this, if left to the average 
lineman, usually results in ugly and injurious mutilation. If 
used at all as a street tree it ought to be planted only spar- 
ingly on the side streets of the more rural portions of the city. 
The Norway maple is often planted, and stands city conditions 
quite well, but it has some of the objectionable features of the 
rock maple, namely, the denseness of its shade, and its branch- 
iness, and consequent unsuitableness for electric wires. Judg- 
ing from the somewhat limited data furnished by experience 
in other cities the ginkgo promises well as a street tree. 
The length and straightness of Franklin avenue make it 
adapted to form a fine avenue of trees. It would be well if 
the comparatively few existing trees, which might interfere 
with the design of planting, were removed, in order to secure 
that uniformity which is so desirable in city streets. The ave- 
nue might be planted in sections with the different kinds. A 
tentative list might be, beginning at its northern end, and 
going southwardly, ailanthus, cottonwood. English elm, Amer- 
ican elm, pin oak and red oak. On some of the narrower 
streets and on those streets on which the building line is near 
to or on the inside line of the sidewalk strip large trees are 
not feasible. In cases like this the practice followed in some 
European cities is suggested, namely, that of planting trees 
which would attain a large size if left to grow naturally, but 
which in this case are allowed to attain only a certain size and 
then are practically kept there by severe priming. Trees so 
treated have a somewhat unnatural appearance, yet they are 
better than none at all and their foliage affords a grateful shade 
aijd a pleasant rest for the eye. The experiment might also be 
tried in similar cases of using the Lombardy poplar, not for 
its shade, which is not wide enough, but beacuse of its col- 
umnar form of growth which requires but little space. It 
seems that it ought to be effective in an architectural way, and 
that it would relieve some streets of their monotony. 
The report closes with resolutions recommending 
the control of the trees by the city government and 
the creation of a forestry department to develop and 
maintain a system of tree planting. 
