80 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
boards not exceeding a one-sheet board in area, used 
for advertising the sale or renting of the property on 
which they are located, and all signs on buildings on 
any residence street within said two hundred feet, ex- 
cept signs advertising the business within, or signs 
used to advertise the selling or renting of the property, 
are hereby declared to be public nuisances and any 
such first described signboards or billboards now exist- 
ing shall be removed by the owners thereof within 
thirty days after the passage of this ordinance and 
upon failure thereof the same shall be torn down under 
the direction of the Inspector of Buildings.” 
The park commissioners of Springfield, Mass., issued 
an order June n for the removal of all billboards near 
the public parks. Three weeks was given to owners of 
boards and owners of land on which they were placed 
to remove them, and at the end of that time the secre- 
tary was instructed to send notices to delinquent own- 
ers. The authority of park commissioners in Massa- 
chusetts to protect public parks and parkways from dis- 
figurement by advertisements has recently been sus- 
tained by the District Court at Waltham. It is under- 
stood that an appeal will be taken to a higher court to 
finally settle the question, and the decision is awaited 
with much interest. A firm was recently fined $5 for 
maintaining a billboard near the Charles River Park- 
way at Boston, and a decision in this case is also ex- 
pected to throw light on the validity of the Massachu- 
setts laws. 
THE MOUNTAIN ASH FOR PARKS, 
The iron-clad constitution of the berry-bearing 
Pyrus Americana, the Rowan-tree or Mountain Ash, 
recommends it for the most exposed positions. 
Well known in our northern and western states, and 
in Canada, the ash extends its growth to the moun- 
tain ranges of Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia 
and Kentucky. In Europe it grows, naturally, at the 
North Cape and on the Arctic coast, in dwarfish form, 
and in Finland, Russia, Norway and Sweden. 
In the United States the mountain ash assumes 
much handsomer proportions than in the cold coun- 
tries of Europe. Medium size, smooth bark, lanceo- 
late, taper-pointed and sharply serrate, bright green 
leaves and reddish stalks, with pointed and smooth 
glutinous leaf buds, this tree, producing numerous 
white flowers, succeeded by scarlet berries in large 
clusters, deserves a place in every arboretum and 
park, as well as on avenues and upon private grounds. 
The berries are borne in autumn, glistening like ru- 
bies, the clusters on slender stems protruding from 
the axis of the leaves. The individual berry is not 
larger than a sweet pea seed. 
There are many interesting points in the individual- 
ity of the mountain ash. Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes 
stated his belief in the antipathy of snakes to the' leaves 
of the ash. He said he used to surround his play- 
ground, on the mountain side, with ash leaves directly 
beside the den of rattlesnakes. His weird pleasure 
in boyhood was in hearing the snakes hiss and rattle 
and in seeing them squirm, but never come near his 
little barricade of ash leaves. 
It is commonly asserted that the Indians will sur- 
round a nest of snakes with a half circle of fire and a 
half circle of ash leaves, and the snakes will dart 
through the fire to escape the emanations of the 
leaves. 
The Swedish Academy of Agriculture reports the 
discovery of a mountain ash that bears edible fruit. 
The tree was discovered near Peterwald, in the north 
of Austria. Specimens were immediately introduced 
into the Botanic Garden at Stockholm, Sweden, and 
BRANCH OI’’ PYRUS AMERICANA; GROWN NEAR COBURG, ONT. 
grafted upon the common stock proved valuable fruit- 
bearing trees. It has ever since been popular in the 
country around Peterwald, where it is so cold that 
no fruit will grow, except a certain kind of cherry. 
The knowledge of this edible fruit-bearing mountain 
ash, invaluable for high altitudes, caused the Minister 
of Agriculture to pay large sums to have it propa- 
gated and spread all through the mountain regions of 
Austria. 
For the high altitudes of the northern and western 
United States the berry-bearing, ornamental and the 
fruiting mountain ash are highly available. The trees 
are independent of fertile soil. They strike their roots 
into rocky soils of varying depths and degrees of ster- 
ility and grow sturdily. Nevertheless, culture improves 
every form of vegetation, and the mountain ash, 
favorably planted in city parks, and suitably cared for, 
will display a degree of beauty and luxuriance exceed- 
ing the specimens of voluntary forest growth. 
Mrs. G. T. Drennan. 
