THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
20.3 
PHILADELPHIA 
By Samuel Newman Baxter, Cily Arhoricullurisl 
In coining to Philadelphia for the convention, llie 
American Association of Nurserymen will visit a cily 
which has been most liberal in its patronage of their pro- 
duets. 
Since the days when William Penn, the founder, de¬ 
clared that it should he a “greene country towne;” 
through the time of John Bartram, who diseovered that 
rare Franklin tree {Gordonia piibescens) and the late 
Thomas Meehan, “Father of City Squares,” Philadelphia 
has been a lover of plants. 
When a few years ago control of the street trees w.as 
accepted by the Park Commission, in accordance with 
dominate, hut the had habits of this tri'e are now g(*n- 
erally known and its planting is diseonlinued; Silver 
Majiles were plentiful and some s|)l(‘ndid avenues of this 
tree exist today, hut it is not being planli'd to any ('xli'id ; 
Oriental Plane is jiojuilai’ with th(‘ building opi'ratoi’s and 
has been planted extensively, es|)ecially in West Phila¬ 
delphia section; Norway Maples. Pin Oaks and next in 
popularity follow the Lindens, FIms, Oinkgo and Sugar 
Maple. Bed and Scarlet Oaks are loo searce at pr<‘S(Mil 
to meet the demand. With Lindens tin* Ameiican is 
least desirable, European, yellow twig and silv(U‘-l(‘av(Ml 
being used. The latter seems to hold its foliag(' h('tt('r 
A handsome row of young Norway Maples on a Philadelphia Street 
the law, a systtunatic census was taken and so well had 
the property owners contributed toward a “greene coun¬ 
try towne” that 127,301 trees wen' recorded and plott(‘d 
on the sidewalks. This number—and it is now nearer 
140,000 is probably greatoi- than that of any eity in the 
world of which there is a r(‘Cord; certainly more than 
Paris, France, famed for its shade trees, and exceeds that 
of Washington, D. C., regarded as a pioneer eity in this 
country to adopt municipal control of street trees. Ap¬ 
propriations for maintenance in these two cities, however, 
are far in excess of Philadelphia’s. 
The census referred to showed Carolina Poplars to pre- 
and longer and stands uj) well umh'r advt'rse cily condi¬ 
tions. 
The catcrpillar-proof lr(‘(‘. Papc'r Mulberry {Brousson- 
etia papyrifera) though not j)lanted much now, abounds 
in Kensington seetion and any ohjc'elion to its Iruit is nil 
because in thousands of tre(‘s tlnur are hut on(‘ or two 
known })istilale forms. In faet, both llower and Iruit 
of the female form are attractive and, due to its searcily, 
iH'garded as rare. 
These are hut a few of the more |)opular varieties hut 
to the nurseryman who is interested in noting the adap¬ 
tability of many varieties not generally used as street 
