SELECTION OF TREES FOR PLANTING 45 
chief charm is its beautiful flowers in spring, but this is 
counteracted by its bareness when it sheds its leaves in 
early autumn. 
For the country as a whole, no trees can be named as 
entirely good and none as entirely bad. Even for any par¬ 
ticular city or county the same holds, as width of street, 
character of soil or other consideration may render a tree 
that in general is excellent for the locality, of little value 
for the particular purpose. Further, trees that are most 
undesirable over a large range of country are, many of 
them, of much value under more severe conditions, such 
as the Poplars and the Hackberry, which are valuable 
trees in many parts of the West. 
Here is presented a list of good trees for many sections 
of the United States and also a list of those that are often 
mistakenly used. 
Red Oak. —The Red 
Oak comes nearest of any to 
being the best shade tree 
for the eastern half of the 
United States. It is a strong 
competitor of the Elm in 
the regions of the latter’s 
best development, as well as 
of the Sugar Maple where it 
thrives best, and of the 
Willow Oak and Live Oak in their special region, but has a 
much wider range of prime development than any of these. 
It grows more rapidly than other Oaks and adapts itself to a 
wide diversity of soil conditions. This species is at home in 
almost any soil, including locations close to the ocean. Its 
trunk is straight and strong, its top symmetrically oval or 
round, and foliage luxurious and turning a bright red with 
the approach of cold weather, remaining on the tree till late 
