The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-04-23
WHAT TREES MEAN TO THE MAKING
 OF A HOME
BY F. F. ROCKWELL. (AuthOr of Around the Year in the Garden" Making a Garden of
 Small Fruits etc.


 Small Fruits etc.
 Next time you go down the street, pick out dozen of the most attrac- tive and UNABLE places.
 If you look these places over in your minds eye, you will notice that there is one feature common to all of them-TREES. And if you try to pie ture these same places to yourself WITHOUT THE TREES you will realize what a tremendous difference trees make in the attractiveness and comfort of any home!
 And if you stop to think again, es- timatlng what you would be willing to pay for any of these places, with the trees they have, and without any trees, then you will readily admit that trees add not only beauty and com fort. but real money value to any place.
 The next question that will occur to you is, 'Is my own place as beautiful and comfortable and valuable as it could be? Or would a few more trees, well placed, make 1t more beautiful, m ore comfortable, and a more vaIu- able piece of property, if, for any req son I should ever want to put it on the market?"
 If you can answer that question in the affirmative, you are indeed for tunate. Nine places out of ten-yes, forty-nine out of fifty-could be greatly improved by the planting of @ few more trees, judiciously selected to suit conditions, and placed with good taste.
 Possibly you have realized this for some time. but you have delayed making the improvement because you did not know just what to plant. or how much expense it would mean. or just how to plant the trees so they would live. If so. the information that follows will be of service to you.
 The selection of trees for planting is a very important matter. It is easy to replace 2 Towering plant or shrub if you do not get the right thing the first time. But a tree is put in to stay perhaps for generations. And there fore the selection of it should not be done hastily, but with regard to the effect it will have WHEN GROWN; and to the conditions of soil, etc, it will have to meet. Often trees are put in where their immediate effect is pleasing but where they are quite out of place when fully grown. It is just as easy to plant the right thing to begin with.
 It should be kept in mind that trees require less attention than any other decorative plants. Once well started they practically take care of them selves. The fact that good trees cost a little more than some other plants som etinles causes hesitation about setting them out. But considering the matter of care, and the number of years they will continue to serve their purpose, they are by far the most economical of all things to plant Very good trees of most varieties can be | bought for from one to five dollars each. Looked upon as an investment which will increase very rapidly in value, it is evident that one cannot afford NOT to set them out.
 In selecting the varieties to plant the beauty of our common native trees. such as the elm, beach, maple, etc, should not be overlooked. They are fully as attractive and usually much more hardy than the rarer and more expensive kinds. Sometimes the attempt Is made to transplant these things from the wild, but in general it is much more satisfactory and in the end more economical, to I get nursery y-grown stock. A tree that 1 has grown in the woods forms one 1 main tap root and long lateral roots which cannot be taken up with i ball of earth; whereas nursery-Grown ! trees which have been transplanted | and root-pruned, have a mass of ] short fiberous roots which make the 1 operation of transpIanting very much more certain to be successful. More i over it is very seldom that the wild 1 tree has had a chance to develop a | symm etrical top. Shade, or interfer- l ence from some neighboring tree, will usually have caused it to be one-sided 1 and uneven. Therefore, the slightest ! saving in original cost which may be effected Is of very little importance 1 compared to these disadvantages. 1 The same principles which should 1 be followed in setting out shrubs or | perenniaIs-that is, to keep an open space of lawn, and to avoid a, hap l hazard, scattered pIanting-apply to 1 the setting out of trees on the place. Most trees are grown as specimen- that is to stand by themselves where 1 they will have 6 chance to develop | fully and symmetrically. But they 1 should be so situated as not to cut | off desirable views, either of the house l or from it. Two of the chief things 1 to be accomplished are shelter. from northwest winds, and shade to make the house and the grounds more com | fortable in summer. As a general rule evergreens are best adapted for the former purpose, and decidious trees for the latter. Evergreens for shade, if placed near the house, are likely to shut out the sun during the winter months, when 1t is wanted. Among the trees most suitable for planting as single specimen are the following. Linden, both American and European, oak, elm, beech, horse | chestnut, birch and poplar. The horse chestnut and poplar are open to the objection, under some conditions, that they litter up the lawn. The 1 beech, catalpa, the Judas tree, crabs and the "smoke tree" Most of these bear flowers which make them es pecially attractive during the part of the year Many of the evergreens such as fir, spruce, cedar, pine, yews l and cypress may also be used very 1 effectively as single specimens. The expresses are less hardy than the others and should be planted only where there is reasonable assurance of their being successful, All of the
 above will succeed on a wide variety
 of soil and under very varying condt- tions.
 For sandy and poor soil the red
 oak, red cedar, white pine, dogwood | ;o11