No. 4.] COUNTRY ROADS. 245 



It seems to me that a great many of the townships in this 

 State would be consulting their best interests if they would 

 pay much more attention than they do to that side of the 

 subject. Not only should they make their roadways better, 

 but they should take more pains with the roadsides. The 

 town of Brookline, which is supposed to be the richest town 

 in the State, shows something of what might be done. Those 

 who are familiar with it know that the roadsides are in most 

 parts of the town very charming, and those who are still 

 more familiar with it know that the roadsides are cared for 

 by special committees, who are empowered to plant trees, 

 to cut the grass, and to do this, that and the other thing, as 

 they may see fit. I only mention that town because it is a 

 very conspicuous example of what our roadsides may be. 

 The preservation of everything that is beautiful in the 

 natural scenery of the State I believe to be a very important 

 thing for this Massachusetts of ours. It is going to be, in a 

 future time, if we are careful and look alive in these matters, 

 a place of great resort for people from our Western country, 

 — a country with by no means as much natural beauty as 

 this of ours ; and those towns which look sharpest after this 

 matter are certain to be the towns which will be chosen for 

 the happiness and enjoyment of the people who come here. 

 The people here present, if they care to hear something 

 more on this subject, will be glad, I know, to listen to a 

 friend of mine who has lately been making a journey through 

 all the sea-coast towns of the State, to see what they are 

 doing and' to see how much they are making of this very 

 thing, — because it is the sea-coast that will be most resorted 

 to, undoubtedly, in this search for pleasant summer resorts. 

 I hope, Mr. Chairman, you will call upon Mr. Harrison of 

 New Hampshire, who happens to be here this afternoon, but 

 has to go away shortly. 



The Chairman. I shall take pleasure in calling upon the 

 gentleman, but before introducing him let me call the atten- 

 tion of this audience to the fact, which I think is a very 

 important point, that many of those shrubs which we find 

 upon our roadsides, and which many of us are in the habit of 

 cutting down, are to-day exported to England and other 

 countries, where they are grown in nurseries as prized 



