ON THE CHOICE OF TREES AND SHRUBS FOR 
CITIES AND RURAL TOWNS 
By D. J. Browne, 
It has often been remarked by strangers, that, in sailing up the 
harbor of New York, they have been strongly impressed with the 
beauty of the scenery, particularly with the number and diversified 
forms of the trees} and that, after landing, the whole appears like 
one vast garden, interspersed, not only with many trees indigenous 
to the neighboring woods, but with those of the most distant 
climes of the two worlds. In progressing inland, or in either direc¬ 
tion along the sea-board, the same features are observable, though in 
a less degree, in all of our cities and larger towns. It has also 
been remarked, that the foreign trees most conspicuous in the artifi¬ 
cial scenery, in America, are various kinds of fruit-trees, the Lom¬ 
bardy Poplar, the Weeping Willow, the Horse-Chesnut, the Euro¬ 
pean Lime-tree, the Ailantus, and the Paper-Mulberry. The con¬ 
trast between the regular position and round-tufted heads of the 
fruit-trees, and the erect-branched summits of the poplars, and be¬ 
tween these trees and the drooping heads of the willow and the 
ailantus, as well as between those of the wild luxuriance of the indi¬ 
genous species, strikes the beholder with admir.ation. This love, 
or desire, for rural taste and ornament, speaks well for our people, 
whether they have been the most judicious in their choice and ma¬ 
nagement, or not; and doubtless, the time is not far distant, when 
a due regard will be paid to the cultivation of such trees and shrubs 
for beautifying our parks, public high-ways, and private grounds, 
as will best subserve the purposes of health, ornament and shade,— 
and with this view the following brief hints are offered, not by the 
way of complaint, but merely as suggestions for future improve¬ 
ment. 
