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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (April 22, 1906)
. TTTE OMATIA" ILLUSTRATED BEE. Best Trees for Ornamental Planting on a City's Streets and in Parks Susjcstiora and Hints as to the Adaptability and Utility of Different .Trees ta. Conditions, of the. Iliddle-Wcst Pictures from Photographs of Typical Trees Found in Omaha I : J . 'u., , . . ., .-- , . .. . . - OT only 1 thera a N jrowinn sentiment In favor of commercial foreat planting, but there la a movement looking toward the establish ment of parka, the ornamenta tion of public grounds and the planting of streets and lanes that la very ' gratifying. The City of Lincoln, Neb., Is the present year making a notable extension to Its park system. Suitable grounds have been acquired and the work of parking is now under way. The Village Improvement so ciety of Beatrice, Neb., In ad dition to Its already numerous efforts for clvlo improvement. Is this spring making a spe cial rampalgn to Interest the people In the planting of the church yards. With the many Bther cities and towns that re organizing for systematic work In the way of orna mental planting. It would seem that there is a forward move ment all along the line. i .re Patwre Usefulness. . . To the end that the planting may bo as permanent as pos sible, the hardier and longer lived trees should be given the preference. It Is not Intended In this paper ' to suggost trees that would be suit able or adapted for planting under all conditions. Bolls and situations vary so much that no trees could be planted . -with ' safety, In all. On of the safest guides in any work of this sort Is to first find ut what trees thrive naturally In a given locality and select largely from these, adding such exotic species as are known' to be adapted to the situation In hand. Borne cities, notable Washington and Den ver at home and Paris abroad, maintain nurseries where species suitable for plant ing are propagated. Thus only those trees whose adaptability has been provoa are used for general planting. Paris Is aid to have 80,000 shade trees. To care for these and to plant new ones the city appropriates $60,000 a year. Washington is one of the beautiful cities of the world, largely on account of the care with which Its 70,000 or more trees have been selected and planted. Among the trees that may be recom mended for general planting Is white elm. It has been widely used as a street tree In eastern cities. New Haven Is known na tionally as the "Clm City." In "Trees of Massachusetts," by Emerson, three dis tinct forms as to shape are noted. The common vase-shaped type is the one most suitable for street or avenue planting. In fact, the elm is especially adapted for the street, though It Is a splendid tree for lawns, and parks as well. It should have Bret place in ornamental planting in N4 braaka. It is hardy, grows rapidly, holds Us leaves through a long period and Is one of the roost graceful trees of the American forest. It is . noted for its longevity. The famous elm under which Washington received his commission as commander In - chief . of the American forces, though an old tree la 177S, Is still one of. the sights of Cambridge. Ilack terry lB Ktiui aa Nebraska. Hack berry is a tree closely related to the elm, has a wide distribution in Ne braska, and la hardier in the drier por tion than the elm. It has been used con siderably in western Kansas and Minne sota, where H Is a favorite as an orna mental tree. It can be planted with safety throughout Nebraska. The oaks are used too sparingly in street and park planting. Their hardiness, long life, symmetrical, spreading, rugged habit, and the variety In the shape of their leaves, makes them especially desirable for ornamental planting. The burr, white, red, scarlet and black oaks may be men tioned as suitable for this purpose. Red Oak is the moat mpld in growth, and, like the scarlet and black oaks. Ha foliage as sumes a variety of colors in autumn. Whether by the roadside. In the lawn, or along the street, the oak is always in place. x American linden or be k wood. Is another valuable tree that should be more widely planted for ornamental purposes than It la It commends itself by Its hardiness, 'arge broad leaves, singular fruiting habit, ;lean limbs and trunk, and elegant form. It is hardy in the eastern part of the state. The Blreb.es Are Grace fa 1. Borne of the birches are among the most graceful of our ornamental trees. The paper birch, or the cut-leaf weeping va riety, on account of their small foliage, alender drooping branches and character istic bark, are especially attractive when sundlng alone In a yard. Sir Walter Scott thus describes the pendulous branches of the European white birch: Where weeps the birch with sliver bark And long, disheveled hair. The rapid growth of the ashes, good 'vrm and clean foliage, commend them for lawn or street planting. They are, how ever, among the last of the trees to put out their leaves in the spring, and among the first to drop them In the fall. Tenny son, noting the tardiness with which the leavus put forth, wrote: Why llngereth she to clothe her heart wttu love. V v Tielayinir. as the tender -h delays. To clothe herself, when ail the woods are green. Green aatt may be planted In any part , i in ii i i . u in - mm ' ii ii m J ... - 1. . - . . V 'wincpiNO MjM, a: 61 the'UU. but' whlfe ash 1 "adapted only to the eastern portion. ' Hardy catalpa Is .a good tree where va riety is desired. Its unusually broad leaves and large white flowers give It high orna mental value. It should be used sparingly At Work (Copyright, 3908, by Frank O. Carpenter.) "ST-nTTAWA, Ont.. April 18. (Special Ij I Correspondence of The Bee.) The States and Canada Is being care fully marked. .A band of sur veyors, representing both countries. Is go ing over it, running new lines from the At lantic to the Pacific and - putting up brass posts to mark them. I have been upon the line , several times during my travels In Canada. At the town of laturter, In British Columbia,, I found the depot situated on both sides of the boundary. There was ' a mark drawn diagonally across the plat ' form on one side of whloh was painted in red an enormous American eagle with the words United States below It. and on the other side. Canada and a picture of the maple leaf. I planted one of my feet on the eagle and the other on the leaf and stood for a time astride the division which separates John Bull's American posses sions from those of Uncle Sam. Looking to the south I could,. In my imagination, see the Rockies rolling onward for thous ands of miles to our Mexican boundary and at the north the mountains of Canada and the snow and Ice of British America extending almost to the pole. Brass Boundary Posts. In company with Mr. C. K. Stone, the general pasaenger agent of the Great North ern railroad who was with me, I walked eastward a few steps to look at one of the brass posts which had lust been put up to mark the boundary. The posts are only a few miles apart and they are being put up along the whole line, with the exception of the Great lakes, from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to Puget sound. As I stood beside the post It reached to my shoulder. It is, I Judge, about five feet high, eight inches thlok at the bottom, tapering to four inches thick at the top, where it ends in a little pyramid as sharp as that which caps the Washington monument. The post is made of brass or copper plates soldered together, and so set In a bedding of cement that it locks like solid metal. Indeed, I did not know it was hollow until I tapped It with my knife. One side of this post bore the word "Canada" in raised letters, and the opposite side "The United States." On another face was the inscription: "Treaty of 1846. Line established ItCT and 1861. Surveyed and . marked 19Jg-1907." Standing at the post I could look for sev eral miles east or west through a wide road which had been cut along each side the boundary right through the forest. I am. told that such piarklng has been done all along the line. . $ Irua Pi Hare of Vtraoit. I understand that the boundary posts along the eastern end of the line are in bad condition and that they are being re placed by posts of copper and granite. The original ones between Quebec and Maine, V.w Uammhli. m n A VT m wrr I . r. m II Am of Uon. They were put up about sixty' years ago, but the frost and thaws have heaved up many of them and thrown others out of perpendicular. Some of those posts have been moved. The surveyors who hav been going over the line during the last y?sr found two of the poets on the northern arm of Lake Champlala missing. One was sixty feet away from the line, and it bad .v.. fc-V"' iji i ,i n, ), i n.ii v y.,' M M "' t'WW '.U' ,'" '.J . , ' .-..'-Vv. fS-iJX-. .,,;-'Jr,..r:' ., J i. ; '.w:v:toV;f - . .; . - , . '' ' '' ' "i ' v v. ';'.." . - J . CATAIiPA. In lawn planting, however, and la adapted only to the eastern portion of the state. Even here many of the attempts to' grow catalpa have been failures because the eastern form or its hybrids have' been used Instead of the hardy type.. .. The Marking American-Canadian probably been carried there by an ice shove when the water was unusually high. Some of these posts stood near roads and they had dropped over Into the gutters. Many were browned with rust and surrounded with weeds. The most of these have been reset or replaced with granite pillars, so bedded that they will resist the ravages of time. Booadary Stores. There is a customs house at Laurler and our baggage was examined by the United States otlicers as soon as we crossed over.: There are some other towns situated here and there along the line, and there are In, some places what are known as boundary stores, half on one side and half on the other. Such stores were more common in the past than now. One-half of a building, for instance, might be In the province of Quebec and the other half In the state of Vermont. . Behind one counter were shelves of American goods and behind the other great stores of Canadian warea The cus tomer paid his money and took his choice, and the tariff laws were about as little re garded as are those of Moses In a mining camp. Such stores were also desirable resorts for criminals, who, staudlng on one side of the room, could snap their Angers at OKB Or THE NEW BOCnCDABT IHJSJTaV AT 111JC LA JTT. ?V id, -v.; -A. V :--. JTIKX SPCXUK OS KIBCIU, C- ' '"Ii . Jv. -'.:Vfr ' r.; v ;" v; .- :':: :; . . . . '. ' '.':;' V'V.' M' ' "" ' " .. .. ,. ' .! ' '" '"V. , - i V"":,- , - ' ... " 'WA;'; V - .w A. T-- THE H0R8B CHESTNUT. greatest care should be taken to secure crown. It is among the first of the , trees the true hardy catalpa, as It is worse than to put forth its leaves ' In the spring. Its useless to plant the other forma large white and pink flowers, which also The horse chestnut, as the accompanying open In early 'spring, give the tree a very ' illustration will show, Is characterised by striking" appearance. Horse chestnut is a dense, foliage , and 'a full , symmetrical native to southeastern Europe and was the officers on the other side and refuse to be arrested without requisition. " How the Boeadary Is Defended. It Is said that Europe Is like an armed camp. Its every country haa fortifications at the places where it ceuid most easily be attacked by its neighbors and enormous military establishments are kept np with a view 4o pesslale ware. The ime ef three thousand miles or mere between Canada and the United States la praeUaaUtr rree from mllltasy defeasea There Is a great fort at Ouobec with old guns and a few spldlers. There Is i. coalrng station at Esquimau m British Columbia, whish antfl last year waa garrisoned by British troops, but which Is now held entirely by Cana dians. The British, in fact, have with drawn their forces from Canada and from now on the Canadians will handle their own military establishments throughout. . Indeed. Canada has practically no defenses along the land boundry to speak of and It Is the same with the United States. Ac cording to our treaty neither nation can keep more than one naval vessel on the great lakes and this Is more for police duties than for. national protection. Neither country is afraid of the other, neither keeps a large military force and the re lations which now prevail and have always r lOU CAJLPXWTEB AVTCHICAW OONSn-ATTC AT KELSON, B, &. NOT FAB ttuJU TJ&B bOU'KDAJiT. BOOT MAPLB. prevailed between the two lead to the be lief that we will always have International peace. Bit of Cnwrltteo History. Speaking of the possibility of war be tween the United States and Canada, I heard an official secret the other night as te the position taken by the Canadian Pacific railroad when Cleveland issued his offensive Venesuelan proclamation. - At that time the feeling against the United States en the part of Oreat Britain was suoh that a war ' seemed imminent. The oilclals of the Canadian Paclno railroad realized this and they had their agents lq London and Washington Instructed that they should telegraph any change of conditions. They realised that if a war should be declared by Oreat Britain against the United States one of our first acts Would be to send an army across the boundry to capture the Canadian Paclflo railroad and they wanted to save the property. They were waiting anxiously when they received cipher telegrams from both Lon don and Washington that war was inevit able. Thereupon a meeting of the high officials of the road was secretly called. The matter was dlsoussed and It waa de cided that Canada could not possibly de- i -"i . TV id UjW ... .. m n f? v. - 'J''; a, M .M l. BURR OAS. Introduced Into the United States In 1741 It has been widely used as a shade tree in the eastern and central states; but it should be used sparingly in the west, and then only In fertile soli with good moisture conditions. The coffee tree is another hand-. Boundary fend the western branches of the railroad and that should the Americans come the officers should be instructed to hand over the line at once under protest. They de cided to do this In order that there might be no destruction of the property. Oreat Britain, however, preferred to pocket the affront of Cleveland's proclamation and the danger of war disappeared. The secret meeting has been kept quiet until this day, but my Informant, a man high la the offices of the dominion government, tells me that there Is no doubt as to the truth of this story. Where the Line Goes. Our boundary with Canada winds In and out at all sorts of angles for the first 1,000 miles or so from the Atlantic. It begins at the ocean and crooks and turns around Maine, keeping pretty well away from the St. Lawrence until it touches that river at ths . northwestern edge of New York. It runs with the river to Lake Ontario and then winds its way through the middle of the Oreat lakes . until It reaches the land again at the northeastern end of Minnesota on Lake Superior. From here it winds a little through . the Rainy river country to the Lake of the Woods and then takes an almost straight shoot across the prairlos and the Rockies to Puget sound. We almost had a fight at one time over Puget sound, the British claiming the island of San Juan, which was afterward, by arbi tration, awarded to us. Just how long the whole boundary lino Is I do not know, but it must be considerably more than 1,000 miles. $ Sning-gUac aad Cattle Rustling, Two of the great offenses committed on both sides of tho boundary in the wott are smuggling and cattle rustling. Thi pastures of Canada are better than thone of the United States and the American ranchmen frequently drive their stock across the boundary to feed on Canada's gross. Such depredations are carefully watched by the mounted police. They patrol the International line weekly and arrest such cowboys as have their stock on the wrong side. They say that all stock that comes into Canada pays duty and they carefully examine all cattle brought in for tuberculosis, Texas fever and other disuases. In the past there was a great deal of smuggling of Chinese ' through Canada into the United States, and some of this goes on today. There are numerous trails through the mountains of British Colum bia, and if the Chinese can escape paying the duty which Is now charged by Canada on each celestial immigrant they are liable to And thei: way into our country. Opium' smuggling is another crime fre quently perpetrated. The opium is said to be prepared at Victoria and carried across in small packages. The duty is very high and it does not take many pounds to bring a profit to the smuggler of 1 1.000. Our customs offloers are on the watch against such criminals and the Canadian government does all It can to help them. There are custom houses at all boundary points, and the American consul is stationed at almost every town of slut ' Nevertheless there is a great deal of (Continued an V 4 BLACK OAK. some tree that may be added for variety. While doing best In the molster regions. It is es pecially valuable in the drier localities, where many other trees would not thrive. It Is said to have derived Its name from the tact that the early settlers in Kentucky, where It occurs in abundance, made a drink from the beans or seed, which resembles coffee in taste. Russian wild olive and moun tain ash are two other excel lent trees to add to give the planting soul and character.. They should always be planted in the open. The former Is particularly attractive on ac count of its silvery, white foli age and Its pleasing fragrance when In flower, while the con spicuous red-colored fruit of the latter renders it highly or namental In autumn. Where rapid-growing trees aro desired, silver maple, Car olina poplar and various spe cies of the willow may be rec ommended. Either maple or Carolina poplar is suitable as a street tree, while willow should stand alone, and when planted It develops a hand some form, as the Illustration shows. Some ef the weeping forms, like the Thurlow weep ing willow, are used exten sively. It la always an ex- J cellent plan to plant with ths rapid - growing, short - lived trees, some of the slower , growing, more permanent types, ' such as elm, oak or basswood. The... slower growing species of maple, such as the sugar or hard and Norway, have been little used In Nebraska. Indeed, the adaptability here has not been fully determined; but they will In all probabil ity succeed In the eastern portion. Their symmetrical form and dense, rich foliage, render them highly ornamental. These two trees resemble each other very closely, but Norway may be readily distinguished by a milky fluid which exudes after a bbd is broken from the stem, a character whloh, sugar maple does not exhibit. Both take on brilliant autumnal colors. The Norway, maple Is an Introduced tree from Europe. Sugar maple Is native to eastern United States, though It does not ocour naturally In Nebraska. It is associated In our minds with the maple sugar Industry. The Schwedler maple, . a variety of Norway maple, is unusually attractive because ojC Its purplish colored leaves. It should be planted alone and never more than one ox two should be placed In the same lawn. Only the deciduous trees have been men tloned thus far, A limited Use of ever greens may be recommended, however, aa an intermingling of evergreen and broad leaved trees produoe a desirable effect. Some of the evergreen most commonly used are white, Scotch and bull pines, red cedar, Douglas spruce and Colorado blua spruce. The latter, on account of Its sym metrical form and beautiful blue foliage. Is widely planted as an ornamental tree. No attempt has been made to exhaust the list of trees suitable for ornamental planting. The list could be considerably extended, and yet It should be appreciated that when It comes to the matter ot planting on a particular slU la a given locality the selection ot trees stould be) made with great care. Hlats am Street Pla-tila. The planting on a given streot should consist of a single species, at least for considerable distance, as In this way the unpleasant appearance of the street caused by trees of varying slse and form will be avoided. On this account, the street planting should be under the control of a board or commission of some sort that should have the power to select the trees for the different streets, thus securing uniformity as to species so far aa each, individual street Is concerned. Is there any more reason why the city government should not plant and care for the street trees than that it should put down and control the street paving T Nothing adds quite so much to the attractiveness of a street as to see It planted uniformly to a single species. Variety can be secured by planting different streets to different trees. The selection of trees for law a planting could still be left to the property, owners. The slse of stock to plant Is 'important. The tendency In ornamental planting la to select trees that' are too large. Small stock will recover much more promptly from the effect of transplanting, will grow more rapidly, and will usually develop into more shapely trees. Deciduous trees should seldom be over two Inches In diame ter at the ground to make transplanting safe, and evergreens should be much, smaller. Another common mistake In ornamental planting is in placing the trees too doe together. The spacing can be closer ta the prairie country than In potential forest regions, because our trees do not attain to the slse that they do there, but evem here the spacing should seldom be less) than thirty feet, while forty feet is & good average, and frequently fifty feet would be better, since shade trees must not be crowded If they are to develop lota well rounded, shapely form. FRANK A. MXfXdCR, Professor of Forestry, Unrrenaty at Men