216 
A CHEAP FARM-HOUSE. 
frequently happened, that, when the tops of the 
trees became sufficiently expanded to darken the 
houses, or intercept the view, in order to remedy 
the evil, the whole of the lower branches have been 
cut away, leaving- the upper ones to form an un¬ 
natural and often illshapen head. 
The streets of the cities and larger towns of this 
State, seldom exceed three or four rods in width, 
and consequently will not admit of the growth of 
trees much more than fifteen or twenty feet in 
height, without more or less injury, or inconve¬ 
nience, to the neighboring habitations. In several 
cities of Europe, the planting of trees and shrubs 
in streets is regulated by law, and in some cases, it 
Fig. 44. 
is required that they be of such a character as will 
not reach above the lower parts of the windows of 
the second stories, as denoted on the right-hand side 
of fig. 44. The trees and shrubs that would an¬ 
swer such a purpose in the cities of New York, 
with judicious pruning and lopping, are the red- 
flowered maple, the sugar-maple, the American 
white beech, the American red beech, the Osage 
orange, the June berry, and the flowery dog^wood. 
The Tatter, or some allied species, will flourish in 
any part of the United States, and can be removed, 
if taken up with care, of almost any size, at which 
it will grow. In order to effect this, it is only ne¬ 
cessary to take up a ball, or mass of earth, adhering 
to the roots, and plant the tree at the same depth in 
the ground, and with the same side of the trunk 
towards the south, as it originally grew in the nur¬ 
sery, or in the woods. 
In selecting any of the above-named trees, it 
would be advisable to obtain those grown in nurse¬ 
ries in the immediate vicinity of the sites where 
they are intended to remain; and such as grow 
naturally to the greatest perfection in the neighbor¬ 
ing forests should be preferred, where the soil and 
climate are essentially the same. 
A few words on the parks and public squares, in 
Brooklyn and New York, seem to demand a notice, 
as not a single species of oak, beech, birch, Ame¬ 
rican ash, walnut, negundo, dog-wood, holly, 
and numerous other native trees and shrubs, is to 
be found in one of them. In general, they are 
planted with the same kind of trees as the streets 
of these cities, with but little regard to the group¬ 
ing of them into pleasing- and picturesque assem¬ 
blages, and the selection is often bad, the trees in 
some cases being totally unfitted to the soil in which 
they grow. For instance, the frequent occurrence 
of the weeping willow, on the Battery, where, for 
reasons already stated, they are annually uprooted 
by tempestuous winds. All of the parks, as well 
as pleasure-grounds throughout this State, doubtless 
would admit of the successful cultivation of at 
least one hundred kinds of trees, which if taste¬ 
fully grouped and contrasted, would lead to a point 
of human refinement unsurpassed by any collection 
in the country, even 
Washington square, 
in Philadelphia,with 
its groups of beau¬ 
tiful bur-oaks(Q(ier- 
cus macrocarp a), pin- 
oaks (Quercuspalus- 
£ns),catalpas, silver¬ 
leaved maples, ne- 
gundos, Kentucky 
coffee-trees, lirio- 
dendrons, and a host 
of other trees, from 
two to three yards 
in girth. 
It is much to be 
regretted, that the 
plan proposed some 
twenty years since 
by the late M. Par- 
mentier, of Brook¬ 
lyn, for planting the 
Park, in New York, 
was not adopted, and every species of American 
tree, that could possibly be made to grow, placed 
there; the magnificence of which could only be 
equalled by a grand national arboretum, in the city 
of Washington, where almost every native tree 
would live. But this we cannot reasonably expect 
to be done ; for, in the progress of civilization in 
all countries, there are many much more important 
things to be considered than the culture of trees 
and shrubs.—[Condensed from the Transactions of 
the N. Y. State Agricultural Society, for 1846.] 
A CHEAP FARM-HOUSE. 
Being laid up in ordinary during some of the 
cold weather of this month (January, 1847), I have 
devoted a portion of the time to contriving another 
plan of a cheap Farm-House. I send you a ground 
plan and elevations of two fronts, which 1 hope 
you may consider sufficiently interesting to present 
to your readers. 
My object has been to present another plan that 
the poor man can follow; building a part at a time 
and always having a perfect house, whether com¬ 
pleted upon the entire plan or only a part of it. 
This I conceive to be the greatest object—at least 
for that class of your readers who are unable to 
purchase expensive works and pay a skilful archi¬ 
tect for a drawing. The entire ground-plan of this 
house is 40 ft. square; and for one who can afford 
it and needs the upper rooms, I think it a good one 
