Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1903-01-13

destroy me cOlOii! vi Soui'r' o''N' y,
bickories. grade the surface from his
LOT and then in front Of his premises
plant row Of white NAPLES or equally
unsuitable species. having no regard TO
similar paintings en- the part Of his
neishbors, but consulting some fancied
convenience of his own. and that alone.
or course, the remedy for this is mu-
nicipal control. The man who succeeds
Mt Inst in surrounding his home with
yistas of beauty effects it by carefully
studying the situation as whole. TAX
ing advantage Of all that nature con-
tributes, allowing art to supplement
nature only where modification or addl'
ton is positively necessary. In the same
way. If the city is to be properly plant
ed and adorned. the entire properly OF
the public must be treated as unit.
managed and planted as single mold
ing. A plan rapidly growing in popu.
larity is to put all the tree planting OF
the town under control of competent
commission. When this Is wisely done,
we get system and may reasonably
expect the very highest results.
In the city Of Minneapolis every
tree is under control of committee
having almost absolute power. The city
plants and cares for all the trees with
in the municipality. A similar rule
holds in Boston, Passaic, n. j., and sew
eral other American cities, to say moth
inc of the capitals Of the old world.
It is said that such commission Is
impracticable in our thousand smaller
towns and villages. The reply is obvi-
Gus that in such situation the problem
is of proportionate simplicity. and 1t
can be brought about by the people
themselves If only they can be organ
lied and in serious earnest. A village
Improvement society or simply q vii
lage committee is all we need. For In
stance, there Is no better street tree
in all the world than our American
| elm, fortunately the most common tree
throughout the northern states, most
easily transplanted, most certain to AZ
| ford a symmetrical growth If simply
let alone. Now, it ought to be possible
even in the small village to plant the
principal street with elms, row on
each side, all appropriately spaced ana
all in one straight line. We admit that
II we were to judge by what Is shown
today such q thing would seem an i'm
possibility, but it is possible all the
same. In any village let such trees be
today so planted. and in thirty years
they will be the pride Of the town, in
q century its glory. The famous elms
| of Yale are the American elms so near
" universal as to be practically free to
the poorest corner from Connecticut TO
the Dakotas. In all our towns the
white or soft maple has been too often
made to do duty in lieu Of the elm. 1t
grows perhaps more rapidly. but never
theless to less advantage. Soft naples
| have their use, but not along the streets,
the peculiar branching giving the tree
as it grows older top more and more
open. The principal branches lengthen
rather stifily and become presently easy
victims of the storm. The hard maple
Is also Objectionable along the streets.
not that it is not an exceedingly beau
tiful tree, equally attractive by the
dense shade Of it's summer green and
by the richness Of its autumn glory,
but it lacks endurance in isolated stu
atoms.
But it Is said that the elms are
monotonous; we must have variety.
Let it be so. Ample variety is easily
within our reach. There are many
other natives of our forests waiting
our disposal. The linden is beautiful
tree and will make. where properly
cared for, most handsome row. Its
foliage rich and outrageous. its flow
ers odorous and honey laden, gift to
the bees The honey locust is by no
means to be despised. The thornless
variety is q lovely tree, perfectly
; healthy and hardy, the wood heavy
and strong, the foliage feathery and
graceful. the rather abundant fruit
the only objection. The sycamore In
some places makes beautiful rows. but
seems not to thrive very well far from
its favorite alluvial habitat. The horse
: chestnut Is an exceedingly ornamental
tree. generally hardy. unrivaled in its
pyramids of tinted bloom. Nor should
the catalpa. our native species. be for
gotten. The blackberry makes round
ed head of soft, pale leaves, a clean,
straight. elegant stem, and may well
on cross streets supplant its more Wig
orous cousin, the elm.
copyright. 1902. by Lewis D. Sampsor.]