118 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



Roadside Improvement. 



In the rush and hurry to gain wealth or fame we 

 Americans often forget everything but our immediate sur- 

 roundings, and our roadsides, even in the vicinity of many 

 well-kept residences, are in a state of utter neglect not 

 only this, but the roadsides are made a dumping-place for 

 rubbish of all sorts. 



It would require but little time or expense to put the 

 roadsides in our towns and villages into a state of great 

 beauty and neatness if all would work together in the right 

 way. Perhaps the first and most important consideration 

 in roadside improvement is that all shall refrain from 

 dumping anything along the roadside, and the highway 

 surveyor or road commissioner or agent should first set 

 the example, and whenever trees are trimmed up or brush 

 is cut along the roadside, or stones picked up or dug out 

 of the road-bed, that all shall be removed entirely from 

 within the road boundaries. All accumulations of stone or 

 other rubbish should be removed, so that undesirable trees, 

 shrubs, or weeds, can be easily eradicated. 



The expense of this work need not be very great, for 

 almost everywhere there may be found pond-holes, ditches, 

 ravines, etc., where such materials may be dumped and 

 covered up. The next important matter is the smoothing 

 and evening up of the surface of the roadside. Here again 

 those in charge of the repairs of the roads should take the 

 initiative, and all turf and loamy soil not suitable to be 

 put on the road-surface should be used for smoothing up 

 and making gracefully curved or sloping roadsides. 



