Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-12-03

great regularity in a healthy tree A tree
drinks both through its leaves and roots.
The leaves will quickly absorb all the nlois-
ture there Is in the atmosphere, while the
roots will dive deep. seeking for damp
earth. sending out little shoots in every d.
rectlon to gather In what IL needs.
Trees are natures great sanitary agents
They collect and absorb the malaria that is
In the atmosphere. and absorbing 1t neu-
tralizes 1t. thereby purifying the air. Will
low trees are great absorbent Of malaria,
and actually flourish best where malaria is
most prevalent. Their native habitat is in
marshy places. and 1t Is a great mistake
to cut them down and destroy them. Fever
and ague cannot live where willow trees
are abundant. Rome is now improving the
health Of the city by setting out trees along
the marshes. They are planted to act as
sanitary agents. and it will not be long
until Rome will be as healthy as any city
In the world The winged elm Is an ex-
cellent tree for curbstone planting because
of Its powers of absorption Of malaria. 1t
Is so bitter that no insect will modest it.
1t grows well and is u very bid cree, able
to take care of itself.
Il said that were II not for the trees
Washington would be uninhabtable. That
Is true. Take away the trees and the heat
in the summer time would be intense, and
the malaria would kill those the heat
spared. The leaves OF a tree are great
absorbants of heat, and they hold what
streets take a great deal of heat. but they
cast it off again. They gather heat in the
daytime and keep casting II Off during the
hours of the night. thus keeping the tenn
perature very high all the time. Tree
leaves do not do that, but retain the heat,
thus. cooling the atmosphere. They are
like ammonia in this respect. Ammonia is
the one thing that above all others hungers
for heat--can never get enough of it, and it
retains all 1t can get, shiverinG for the
want Of more.
SO with foliage. The idea prevails that
the GOODNESS which Is found where shade is
abundant arises altogether from the tree
cutting off the rays of the sun. That is not
true but is mainly due to the fact that the
leaves absorb and retain the heat. The
desert of Sahara could be made delightful
place to live If 1t could only be covered
with forests. The foliage would take up
and absorb the heat which now makes that
stretch of arid territory almost unbearable
to mankind
The Varieties Used.
I'VE use in Washington about fifty vari-
cites OF trees on the street. Soft maple is q
great favorite here. Its native habitat Is
near streams, where there is plenty of
moisture. and it is bold to seek after :he
moisture it demands. BY trimming closely
they succeed admirably or our streets. They
would not live and flourish if not trimmed
They hunt deep for food, and will steal all
they can from other trees.
The Carolina poplar is another good
curbStone tree. Like the soft maple. 1t is II
nioisture-loving tree, and must be carefully
attended or the lack of moisture will cause
ii to prematurely shed it's leaves. One of
our best growing and handsomest trees Is
the oriental plane. or eastern sycamore. The
English plane is also a favorite. 1t is not a
long-lived tree here, though there is one in
Switzerland known to be over 500 years old.
Here they do not live longer than thirty or
forty years. The Norway maple is one Of
the best. 1t does not require so much
moisture. and therefore needs little or no
trimming
The Anthenian poplar is a beautiful
street tree. 1t Is symmetrical and presents
a fine military appearance. New Orleans
is now being planted with the camphor tree,
the first being sent from here in hox.
They grow well there and Will prove an ad
mirable disinfectant. The planting of shade
trees in every city ought to be under the
direction Of the authorities. and each city
should have its own nursery Cor the cult
walton of it's trees and their education"
"Oaks. elms and sugar naples are beauti-
full lawn trees. but do not do well for curb
stone uses. They require much more mois-
ture than they can get on the streets, and
are not self-asserting enough. They will
not hunt for food as will other varieties.
On the curbstone they literally starve to
death. In our parks we have not as great
variety of trees as either New York,
Philadelphia or Brooklyn. We have some,
however, WHICH pOSStSS peculiar ndDltS.
Take the acacia as sample. 1t is some
times called the sleeping tree When night
comes ii folds its leaves and goes to sleep
and sleeps until daylight appears again.
Many trees grow as much in the night
time as IN the day. but the acacia does ne I.
1t emphatically rests during the darkness
of the night, but when the light again ap-
pears 1t opens out its leaves with a fresh
Ii ok about them that is really charming"
The talk had all been about trees but the
superintendent had something to say about
flowers. America he said, annually
sends abroad 81, 10000 to purchase plants.
bulbs and cuttings-that ought to be sup
piled by the florists of this country, and
that money retained at home. We can grow
all these plants and bulbs here as well as
they do in Europe, II our gardeners would
but take hold of the matter in earnest.
In propagating, flowers have one advantage
over trees, In that bees and birds help in
the work. A bee will fly into one flower
and carries the fertilizing matter to an
other. and thus assist in maintaining the
health of both. They do not perform that
work for trees Some plants have both the
male and female organs, but sometimes one
will be weakly and not well developed. In
that case the flower is not healthy. Flow
ers are natures great beautifier, while trees
are it's great health giver and health pre-
server"