PREFACE 



The Economic value of good roads has far surpassed the claims of its early 

 protagonists twenty years since. The value of road improvement by means 

 of well-planted trees and shrubs, pleasing bridges, water outlets, stone records 

 and designs is just as great as the economic value a doctrine which has been 

 steadily growing and is now gaining full assent. 



Out-of-doors recreation is accepted as a necessary part of the life of a 

 Californian as a vital element in bodily well-being, mental diversion and im- 

 aginative stimulus. Roads decorated with trees and shrubs, here revealing 

 continuous charms, on occasion curtaining an ugly spot, are in keeping with 

 the glory of the far-flung landscapes of California; barren or unsightly road- 

 ways would be paradoxical in a land of beauty. 



While highways, to be sure, are of extreme importance to motorists, an 

 importance which' can scarcely be overestimated, highways are not merely for 

 motorists. Travelers from the East constantly comment upon a California 

 phenomenon never seen in Eastern cities the long strings of men and girls 

 pouring out of our cities and towns on holidays, clad in hiking costumes and 

 filing along the roadways for the roads lead to the trails and the trails to the 

 hills. 



The work of our State Department of. Forestry in planting and decorating 

 the highways assumes, therefore, more than a special or group interest. While 

 such improvements increase the pleasure and contentment of the traveler and 

 add large economic values to the regions traversed by the roads, the work 

 serves an additional purpose in giving expression to the spirit of our people, 

 their feeling for the out-of-doors for the hills, valleys and mountain ranges 

 of this state. For these roads will not merely carry the traffic load of trade, 

 binding city to city, but ably planned and adorned they will be silvan threads 

 worthy to join the wonderlands of California each to each and these in turn 

 with the centers of population. In this manner such work will give a visible 

 sign of the mental attitude and spirit of the Californians. 



Willis Linn Jepson. 



University of California, ' 

 June 1 8, 1921. 



