The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-06-21


 result Is that Washington has the best and cheapest tree supply in the United States. The transportation Of young trees by railroad or steamboat often re- suits in serious Injury to the growtns. as the ends of their roots are trimmed of before shipment. Here the ends are preserved and the trees repianted intact An important branch of the work Of the commission is known as police reports | detail of men. with proper appliances l and a two-horse wagon, start out every
 weekday morning for the headquarters | of the parking commission. at the inter | section of B and Canal Streets. near ! Third Street, southwest. The man in charge of this detachment is furnished with a list of complaints, sent in by the police department, such as dangerous | limbs or trees. limbs obstructing the | free passageway of sidewalks or road | ways, dead trees and those injured by runaway teams, storms or other causes. | These complaints are promptly reme- died and the debris taken away to the
 dumping places. Other men are em- pioyed in overhauling and replacing the wire safety netting placed about the 1 shade trees. In excavating holes for the | planting of young trees four carloads of earth are taken from each aperture.
 which are refilled with rich soil.
 A few days ago the parking commission | removed a sturdy old oak from Street,
 between North Capitol and First Street.
 northwest This gigantic oak was not
 less than loo years of age and was five feet in diameter at the base of its trunk.
 The planting of oak trees in cities is an | experiment which was first generally | tried here by the commission.
 One of Washington's most beautiful
 shade trees is the Piatanus orientalis.
 or Oriental plane tree. The first of these | trees planted in Washington. and which | Is now growing in Lincoln Park, is the | Thaddeus Stevens memorial tree, gener-
 ally supposed to have been planted by the Pennsylvania statesman. It was not ac- tually planted by him, but, as related by | Mir. w. R. Smith, of the Botanic Gar | den. when MT. Stevens was asked to perform the duty he looked down at his | club feet with deprecative glance, then said, laughingiy. Here's a dollar; get a | couple of lusty darkies to do it." and this was done.
 The Stevens tree was one of two which
 were planted on the banks of the Ttber | in the Botanic Garden during the Civil | War. The arching of the Fiber necessi- | tated the removal of the tree and it was | transplanted in Lincoln Park, the spot where stood one of the most extensive | hospitals established during the war. Its mate still grows in the Botanic Garden, spreading it's shade over the office of MT. | Smith, the superintendent. The memorial tree thrived we'll in its new situation and has attained a height of about 100 feet. Its lower limbs at one time spread over | the lawn nearly forty feet from the trunk and the tree made a pleasing centre for
 the vegetation of the park. Unfortunate ly. about four or five years ago the mis- | take was made of removing these wide spreading branches: consequently no idea may now be gained of the real beauty | of the tree.
 The ancient Romans were great admir- CTS of the plane tree. it is stated, 1t be- | ing planted by them in public places, and | in some instances it's lower limbs were | supported by marble columns. making
 cool resort wherein to escape the heat of the sun, The tree was brought from the 1 Levant by the Romans and was at first | cultivated only for the benefit of the | wealthy. This was the case in France | also, when 1t was first brought into that
 country. penalty being incurred by any | of the peasantry who should presume to l pass beneath 1t.
 There are five varieties of the plane
 tree, of which four are native in North America. The best known of these is the | common plane of buttonwood, often
 called the North American plane When | introduced into England 1t was named | the Occidental plane It Is very improp- | erly called by most Americans the syca- more. which very closely resembles the Oriental species, but the latter has more | deeply lobed leaves which appear later
 in the Spring and become smooth sooner,
 and the fruit balls of the latter are larg- | er The native tree is very liable to de-
 cay and does not attain the symmetry of form which the Oriental species devel- | ops. The latter seems better suited to | our climate than the American plane. It's | wood is very hard and close grained and
 the tree is entirely free from disease
 Both species like a moist soil and grow
 with great rapidity. The Eastern tree
 may not be so certainly propagated from
 shoots as can the American variety, but both are easily grown from the seed con-
 tained in the balls pendant on the tree. The propagation of the Oriental species l in this country is being encouraged by MT. Smith, who sends out packages of it's | seed and that of other rare trees from | the Botanic Garden to the Senators and Representatives of the different States There is another tree which Is mistak-
 enly called both plane tree and sycamore. | That Is the greater maple-acer pseudo | platanus, or false plane-sometimes called | the IT aple-leaved plane and sycamore ma | pie. Its leaves resemble somewhat those | of the true plane, but otherwise their similarity is slight. It is by means of this tree that a way Is suggested by l which the name sycamore might have been attached to the American plane
 tree The real sycamore is a fig tree, na- tive to Egypt and Syria, and is the syca-
 more of the Bible. In the sacred dramas
 of the middle ages. the true sycamore not
 being at hand. the large maple was used | to represent the tree into which Zac-
 chaeus climbed. and that in which the
 Virgin hid with the infant Jesus to avoid
 the fury of Herod. In this manner the
 name sycamore was given to the false | plane, and that tree being confused with | the true species the latter was in time
 also called the sycamore.
 l Both the Oriental and the Occidental
 plane are planted largely on the streets | of Washington. The former is more
 beautiful. If allowed to grow undisturbed.
 and will. under those conditions, put | forth large limbs near the ground If properly trimmed 1t makes an ideal tree
 for the street curb In the latter situa- | ton 1t must be severaly pruned, which operation the tree stands well.
 The two western approaches to the
 Capitol. the one from the Peace Monu-
 ment, the other from the Garfield statue. were lined with the Oriental plane by
 Frederick Law Olmstead. The curb on
 the east side of the circles around the