INSTITUTE PAPERS. I47 



ROADSIDE LAIPROVEMENT. 



By Mrs. Edward M. Lawrence, North Eubec, Maine. 



(Prize Essay.) 



There was never a time in the history of the world when so 

 many people were traversing the public highway as at present. 



During the summer months the railroads are almost deserted 

 by those who are touring for pleasure and the commercial 

 world is streaming back along the highway ; for it is now prac-' 

 ical to combine business with pleasure by using automobile 

 as carriage and to save the precious time that was once waste 1 

 because of the unaccommodating train schedule. The improved 

 facilities for travel combined with the good roads movement 

 make the question of roadside improvement timely. 



If one starts to travel between two given points by rail, the 

 choice of routes is limited. This is not true when travelling by 

 the public highways, for often there are a ha,lf dozen or more 

 from which to choose. Of course the good road bed and the 

 surrounding landscape will always be of first consideration in 

 making selection, but these things being equal, the condition of 

 the roadside is sure to determine the choice. Even a few mile^ 

 of extra travel seem an advantage in these days of mechanical 

 power, pneumatic tires, and easy cushions. 



Cleanliness is the first requisite for an attractive roadside. 

 Waste of every description is not only unsightly and unsani- 

 tary, and, therefore, out of place, but it betokens slovenly 

 habits, and gives travellers a bad impression of the inhabitants 

 of the neighborhood. The careless scattering of waste paper 

 has frequently resulted in serious accident, for nothing will 

 more surely frighten a nervous horse. Broken bits of crockery, 

 tin cans, and worn out machinery had much better be left in 

 the individual back yard than dumped upon the public highway 

 where they become an offending eye-sore to the multitude. No 



