ARBOR DAY ITS HISTORY AND OBSERVANCE. 55 



STREET PLANTING. 



Forests apart, if the question arises where to plant, nearly all will 

 say plant along the borders of the streets. This is natural and right, 

 and so the first thing which the village improvement societies, which 

 have sprung up so abundantly of late, have done has been to plant 

 trees on the roadsides. Unfortunately, also, this has too often been the 

 last thing. Village improvement has frequently exhausted itself by the 

 wayside. This speaks well for the general estimate of trees, however 

 it may speak for the people's estimate of what constitute the needs or 

 the possibilities of village life. 



Lane at Darlington, Md. 



Certainly no one thing adds so much to the appearance of town or 

 village, or affords so much outward comfort to its people, as to have its 

 streets properly planted with trees. As a source of embellishment noth- 

 ing can surpass it. How much would it detract from the charm of 

 Washington, celebrated for beauty on account of its broad streets, ample 

 parks, and the plan on which they are constructed, if its 80,000 or more 

 trees which border those streets and adorn those parks were removed ? 

 Washington would be distinctly another city than it now is. But what 

 is true of the National Capital is true of the smaller town or village. 

 The difference is not in kind, but only in scale or dimension. 



In deciding, however, what trees are most desirable for street or 

 roadside planting, no little difficulty arises. No general list can be 



