There are a number of qualities which may be considered almost absolutely essential in the makeup of a shade tree for roads and streets.

First

It should be what its name indicates, a shade tree; it should have a moderately smooth, straight trunk, a spreading head with a mass of clean, bright, healthy foliage which it retains in good color throughout the whole, or nearly the whole year.

Second

It should be adapted to its environment. Such a tree for Florida should flourish in our poor, sandy soil with a small amount of care or fertilizer. It should be able to withstand dust, drought or excessive rain; it should not be too tender and it should stand up against high winds or hurricanes with a minimum of damage.

Third

It should be easy to propagate, though not to the extent of sprouting too readily or propagating itself too freely from seed along the roads or streets.

Fourth

It should be, so far as our knowledge goes, free from serious diseases or the attacks of very bad insects, though of course these things are liable to be introduced at any time.

Fifth

It should be free from vicious thorns. In addition to these it would be well if it were long lived, if its leaves were not too large and if its fruit did not greatly litter or cumber the way. It is not at all likely that any tree will ever be found that will have all or nearly all the good qualities mentioned above; - the only thing we can hope for is to find one or more that will have the most of them.

So far as the planting of ornamentals is concerned Florida is a new country and we are yet in the experimental stage. Our knowledge, gained in regions to the north of this, is of little value to us here. We must plant tropical and semi-tropical stuff here almost altogether, and only a few things have really been at all thoroughly tried as shade trees here.

First, some of the palms have been recommended and a few of them are being tried. The common coconut has been planted considerably in the extreme lower part of the state as a road and street tree but while it is a most rapid grower, is healthy and free from serious insect pests here so far, and is one of the most magnificent objects in nature, I consider it unfit for any such purposes. Its stem is almost invariably crooked, oftentimes exceedingly so, hence it never forms a good line and, although experiments have been made with a hope of forcing it to grow straight they have totally failed. Its leaves do not have a sufficient spread to shade a broad road properly even if it grew straight. But when the tree has attained a considerable height there would always be great risk from falling leaves and nuts along any much frequented thoroughfare. I have seen a woman knocked senseless by being struck with the butt of a leaf which did not fall over ten feet.

Some of the other Cocos have been used for street and highway planting, particularly C. plumosa which is a very beautiful tree, but with the same defect as all other palms which we are likely to plant here, - their leaves do not spread wide enough to shade an ordinary street or road. Washingtonia robusta is planted to some extent here and it becomes a noble tree; so does the royal palm, but the latter will not do well on dry pine land. This tree is often used for avenues in Cuba but it makes but little shade. Several of the palms are fine for planting along walks or byroads. Our common cabbage palmetto is excellent for this purpose and is hardy everywhere in the state.

The Australian Pine, Casuarina Equisetifolia

The Australian Pine, Casuarina Equisetifolia, which is not at all closely related to the pines, is used for street and road shading more extensively than any other tree in tropical Florida. It belongs to a family whose relationships are uncertain and it inhabits tropical seashores of the Australian region. Although a native of the torrid zone it seems strangely out of place in it, for it looks something like a slender white pine, and one might expect to find it growing wild among the mountains of some boreal country; however, it has some excellent qualifications for a road and street tree. It is one of the most rapid growers in the world, it flourishes in our poor pine land with a limited amount of culture and fertilizer, its slender, wand-like branches and narrow foliage bend before hard winds, hence it stands the storms fairly well. It is generally healthy and free from insect pests, though of late it is beginning to be troubled by a boring beetle; and it is easily propagated from seed, which it produces in great abundance. Yet to me and many others it does not seem to be a fit tree for planting along our highways: until it reaches a considerable age the lower limbs are the longest and must be cut away in order to allow of free passage along the road. It does not cast much shade on account of the tenuity of its foliage. It produces a hard seed-vessel something like a prickly cone and it is claimed that these are injurious to automobile tires. Certainly they are not pleasant to the feet of barefoot children and they sometimes literally cover the highway.

But it is the appearance, the tone, the general color of the tree that, it seems to me, is its greatest drawback. It has a sad, dull, gloomy tint that is especially depressing, that is suggestive of cemeteries, of the end of life, and of the dark and silent tomb. This is a land of clear skies, of illimitable light and sunshine, a land of glorious color, and it seems to me that such a depressing tree is entirely out of place in it.