AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
gmgttefr ta intjrnrk i\t Jfarnter, i\t palter, aitir \\t (Sartater* 
AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHY, THE MOST USEFUL, AMD THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN. - Washington. 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY ALLEN & CO., 189 WATER ST. 
YOL. XII.—NO. 5.] 
NEW-YORK, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 1854. 
[NEW SERIES.—NO. 31. 
m°FOR PROSPECTUS, TERMS, tfc., 
SEE LAST PAGE. 
THE PROPER SELECTION OF SHADE TREES. 
The last, and one of the best, rural essays from 
the pen of the late A. J. Downing, was on the 
subject of “shade trees in cities.” We do not 
agree in all things with Mr. Downing— that is 
to say, he indulged in some fancies regarding 
rural improvement, from which we occasionally 
dissent; but in the main, no man of our coun¬ 
try has done more—if as much—to awaken the 
attention of the people to the importance of 
erecting their buildings in good taste, and pro¬ 
perly laying out and planting their grounds, 
than he. Wielding a facile, free, and occasion¬ 
ally dashing pen, he impressed his sentiments 
readily and forcibly on the minds of his readers; 
and although we think his models for dwellings 
were as a series, faulty in some of their most 
important requirements; and that, in the nu¬ 
merous structures which were copied from them, 
many in their occupation will prove unsatisfac¬ 
tory. Yet, to his taste and general good judg¬ 
ment in the selection and disposition of shade 
and ornamental trees, Downing had no superior. 
His thoughts, while discoursing of trees, were al¬ 
ways glowing, and, like their own shadows, al¬ 
ways refreshing. “ Down with the Ailanthus !” 
was the sudden and vehement expression of 
Downing in the essay to which we have alluded, 
after having for years been praising and recom¬ 
mending it in his books. Now, this poor, de¬ 
nounced Ailanthus is called, in the nursery cat¬ 
alogues, the “ Tree of Heaven,” by way of pre¬ 
eminence ! It has been planted, perhaps, more 
than any other foreign tree ever brought into 
America. It has been petted and propagated 
in large towns, amidst brick walls, and beneath 
stony pavements, more than any other tree 
whatever. In some of our large cities—the up¬ 
per wards of New-York, in Brooklyn, and all 
over Cincinnati, for instance—from the last of 
May, through June, and into July—with its up¬ 
right, stag-headed branches, and numerously- 
lobed leaves, at flowering time, “it stinks and 
shines like rotten mackerel by moonlight,” as 
the cynical John Randolph, once said of a dis¬ 
tinguished orator and politician, whom he hated. 
We agree, that in close contiguity to the dwell¬ 
ing, or on the borders of streets, the Ailanthus 
has no fitness; but in the proper place, as a tree 
to make one of an agreeable variety, its peculi¬ 
arity of head, its clean stem, and striking con¬ 
trast to our American trees, make it desirable 
to a limited extent; and in a large collection, 
where a variety is sought, we would always, as 
with the Lombardy Poplar, sparingly adopted it. 
Another tree, unoffending, save in one or two 
particulars, is embraced in the sweeping anath¬ 
ema of Downing —the Abele or Silver Poplar. 
This is a tree of large growth, and in the silvery 
color of its leaves, as they lift and wave in the 
and maples exist, free from these objections, and 
are so much more easily propagated and grown. 
These last-named trees, the elms and the 
maples, in all their varieties—both hard and 
soft—we cannot too highly recommend to the 
breeze, makes another contrast to our deep- planter in every sort of soil and position where 
they will grow. It is poorly worth while to 
enumerate their good qualities, as every one of 
the slightest observation knows them. We 
would also suggest the attention of our tree 
planter, and nurserymen to the planting and pro¬ 
pagation of the varieties of the native oak, so 
abundant in American forests. The oak is an 
emblem of strength and endurance. It is a no¬ 
ble, stalwart tree, stretching its brawny arms 
out far and wide, and towering as loftily as its 
more rapidly-growing companions of the forests. 
No one who has seen those fine specimens of 
native oak in the public squares of Philadelphia, 
but must have admired their vigorous forms, 
and strong, spreading branches. They are 
striking specimens of successful growth. Yet 
the same objection exists to the oak as to the 
white-wood — its wide-spreading, lateral, and 
deep-descending tap-roots; and for successful 
planting like the latter, they should be nursery 
grown. Of all the varieties, the upland white, 
the common oak of the ship-builders, and 
swamp, or lowland white, and the over-cup oaks, 
are the grandest in their growth and stature. 
The latter throw's up antler-like branches, which, 
when denuded of their leaves, have a bold, strik¬ 
ing appearance, with less of spray than the 
others, but a deeper colored, larger, and longer 
leaf. The red, yellow, gray, and black oaks, as 
they are severally called, but wdiich in reality 
differ little in size and appearance, are also no¬ 
ble trees, and grand objects when standing apart, 
or in groups in the park, or on the lawn. 
The hickory, in all its varieties, is a graceful 
and well-grown tree; but more than the oaks, 
even obnoxious to the tap, and spreading, fibre¬ 
less roots. They seldom live when transplanted 
from their native grounds; although taken 
young, we have known successful instances of 
the kind. To make success in any way certain, 
nursery growth is necessary, more so, if possi¬ 
ble, than with oaks and white-woods. 
It is hardly worth while at this present writ¬ 
ing, to speak of the elm and maple, with which, 
in all their varieties, our streets, lawns, and 
avenues are so commonly embellished. They 
are always in place, and always appropriate; 
the noblest of shades and majestic objects to the 
eye. They are free from the objections named 
in the other trees. So it is with the white ash, 
yielding little in pretension to the elms and ma¬ 
ples ; but leaving out later, and casting its foli¬ 
age earlier in the season. The sycamore or 
buttonwood, was once a tree that scarce had its 
shaded forest trees. Like the Ailanthus, we 
would distribute it occasionally among our plan¬ 
tations. The chief objections to both these 
trees are their proneness to throw up suckers— 
a bad habit, we admit; but in grounds laid 
in grass, and particularly where cropped by 
cattle, or sheep, which eat them down as fast as 
the young shoots appear, this propensity proves 
no forbidding objection. 
We have been disposed to remark more 
pointedly in relation to these trees, because this 
article of Mr. Downing —probably from the fact 
that it was the last which he wrote—has been 
extensively copied in the periodicals of the day, 
throughout the country; and also from the fact 
that he proposed and highly recommended ano¬ 
ther tree in their place, to which, unless ex¬ 
traordinary pains be taken in its early prepara¬ 
tion for transplanting, objections equally strong 
exist, but of entirely different character—the 
uncertainty of its growth—-or rather, the cer¬ 
tainty of its failure—in a great majority of in¬ 
stances, where it may be introduced by trans¬ 
planting. 
This tree is the Tulipifera Liriodendron of 
the Botanists, or common white-wood, or Tulip 
tree of our forests. This is a truly grand and 
beautiful tree. It throws up a straight, clean 
shaft, sixty to eighty feet high, and three to six 
feet in diameter, on strong soil in its native for¬ 
ests. Its leaves are deep green, broad, and ob¬ 
tusely lobed, and its flower conspicuous, tulip¬ 
shaped, and bronzed yellow in color. It is a 
sweet, clean, beautiful, stately tree, cone-like in 
shape, and these are great qualities to be com¬ 
bined in any one American forest tree. Its ob¬ 
jections, as a tree for common planting, are its 
spreading, fibrelcss roots, which run far out 
from the body, in addition to a pertinacious tap¬ 
root, running directly down into the sub-soil and 
rendering it uncommonly refractory in transplant¬ 
ing—particularly when self-grown, in its native 
grounds. The only way to remedy this diffi¬ 
culty is to grow them in nurseries, with frequent 
transplanting and cutting off the tap-root, in 
order to give them, so far as they are suscepti¬ 
ble of it, a fibrous habit or tuftiness of roots, 
until they are of sufficient size for permanent 
plantations. To this should be added a rich, 
warm, friable soil. With these qualifications we 
commend them to planters at large; without 
the anticipation, however, that they will ever 
become common for shade or the arbor, for the 
reason that such truly fine trees as the elms 
