Evening star., 1909-08-29
CHANGES IN TREE STYLES
HARD NAPLES AND ELMS THE
KANSAS CITY FASHION.
Only a Few Sycamores, Locusts,
Cottonwoods and Virginian
Oaks Remain in the Streets.

From the Kansas City Times.
The fashion IN trees changes with time
and place. In Kansas City the most
popular trees now are the elm and the
hard maple-popular because OF their
hade-giving qualities and their adapta-
biIity to the soil. But this tree fashion
has been of short life here. Not many
years ago other varieties OF shade makers
were planted in profusion and in some in
stances without much regard to the future
plans OF the park board and the city
forestry department.
When the city was huddled about the
levee on the Missouri river little or no
attention was paid to the planting of
trees There were numerous natural
groves and the citizens contended them
selves with what nature had provided.
Later, about forty years ago, when the
city pushed farther south and the juno
ton became the center of business. peO-
pie began to take a greater interest in
making their homes attractive. Every
street was lined with great NAPLES of the
soft variety. These are no longer popu-
lar for residence streets.
Soft Naples Troublesome.
''The soft maple trees are always full
of worms and caterpillars in summer and
the ground beneath consequently is al
ways dirty s. c. Woodson. city forester,
said. Il not only do not recommend
them. but / refuse to permit them to be
planted at all. il have anything to say
about it. The leaves are especially tooth
some for worms, and this makes the soft
maple a continual cost in summer. The
spraying machines are compelled to go
over them several times before all Of the
worms are killed
What few oaks there are in Kansas
City were probably planted many years
ago by settlers from Virginia They were
confined to the front yards. and the city
style was not affected by their invasion
The natural forests of elms had much
TO do, perhaps, with establishing this
species as the most popular in Kansas
their growth, and when transplanted from
the woody places they were very cheap.
But now all e1ms for boulevard and street
planting are carefully selected from nur-
sery stock. The price ranges from $1.5O
to $1.SO each. The hard maple, the most
popular for the boulevard parkways, costs
from $50 to S. each for trees five years
old. The sycamore, which Is not recon-
mended for planting by either the city for
ester or the park department, sells for
No Tree Census.
A tree census Of Kansas City has never
been taken, but under the administration
Of Mr.. Woodson the first records Of all
plantations during two seasons have been
kept. An attempt is being made to replace
all soft maple trees with the hardwood
variety whenever they die out or are re-
moved In the widening of streets.
with the exception of a few locusts
cottonwoods, sycamores and pines planted
in yards there has been little attempt to
shade the streets with anything but elms
soft naples and hard NAPLES" Mr.. Wood
son explained. ION Troost avenue, be-
tween 42d and 47th streets, is the longest
single planting of sycamore trees in
Kansas City. They are growing rapidly,
and we are taking special care of them
to prove If possible, that our dislike for
them is unfounded. My principal objec-
tion to them is the poor show they make
in the fall: the leaves are very large
and drop with the first FROST