Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-10-16
On Street Trees for Northern Texas.

1
| have read with much interest your recent ar
ticles on street and shade trees for North Texas
towns. The subject is over which the people
| of Ennis are now much concerning themselves.
| Some of US strongly favor one kind or class of
trees, while others favor something else, hence
| 1 thank you for your writings in THE GAZETTE
! on shade trees, as consider it ahead of any
thing we have had up.
| AS to the laurel oak "a tree known
as pin oak in some localitiesl I
| must state that there ia no more beautiful tree
| in all the South, becoming almost perfect
| sugar-loaf in shape when it has attained to the
Another great beauty attaching to it lies in the
fact that it is an evergreen, and hence continues
| to look its best when all deciduous trees are
| bare. 1t is furthermore one of the most rapidly
| growing oaks known, as you state, and can
bear witness.
The laurel oak already grows in various sec
tions of Texas, where the young trees may be
had on made or alluvial lands along river and
creek bottoms.
You also struck it right on the mock orange, a
tree sometimes called wild peach. 1t is most
beautiful evergreen, hardy and thrifty along the
rivers of Southwestern Texas, where it makes
good sized trees Can De trapsp anted to any of
our uplands, either black waxy or sandy loan,
and does well every time
Our wild cherry, though not an evergreen, is
another beautiful shade tree too much neglected
in Texas. 1t is easily grown and though con-
siderably used by our people as a shade tree, it
ought to be more widely adopted. Then. the
live oak with US is perfect success and per-
manent evergreen, making grand shade tree.
1t ought to be extensively planted In every
North Texas city. As you stated, slow growth
seems to be the leading objection to 1t, but if
thrifty young trees are careful y selected only a
few years would elapse ere they would be giving
our towns quite tropical appearance to visitors
from the North down to spend Christmas with
US. G. T. HOGAN.
Ennis, Tex.
The live oak (Quercus virens) is, sure
enough, one of our grandest trees, and
its name is as closely associated with the
sub-tropical South as is that of the mag
nolis. 1t ought to be largely planted,
for it is entirely at home in every part of
Texas, and even though the planter
should not live to see it large tree
(Which he would not be apt to dog 1t Is
entirely beautiful as small tree. In
Mobile, Ala, there are many live oaks
measuring more than three feet in diam
eter, and extending their branches over
near 100 feet, but they are very old,
having been planted in the early days of
the town, say $50 years ago. We'd
always plant live oaks. but for quick de-
velopment either the laurel or the water
oak is to be preferred, of course. The
laurel oak would be larger at thirty
years of age than the live oak would be
at the age of 100 years, and the former
is certainly the most beautiful tree in
every respect. Strangers from the North
never think of the laurel oak as being
other than the live oak. There is plenty
of room for both species, however.
We would have expected to find both
the laurel aud the water oak growing in
the pine regions of Eastern Texas, but
we have never yet seen either along
streams in other portions of the state.
OF course this is not TO question the cor
rectness of our correspondent when he
says the laurel oak grows along streams
in various sections of Texas, for he is 6
well informed gentleman, and doubtless
knows exactly what he is talking about.
We gave the botanical name of the tree
(Quercus laurifolia), in the article re-
ferred to by him else from what he says
of its sometimes being called pin oak
we'd think he might have mistook US as
to species, though his description of the
tree tallies well With the appearance OF our
:swamp' laurel oak. The true pin oak
(Quercus palustris) grows abundantly
along many of our rivers-the finest
specimens We ever saw we met with
growing on the BraZos not far from Call