No. 4.] ROADSIDE IMPROVEMENT. 279 



ROADSIDE IMPROVEMENT. 



BY WARREN C. JEWETT OF WORCESTER. 



The matter of roadside improvement has not received the 

 attention from our rural population that it deserves, and I 

 know of few subjects upon which so little has been written 

 as upon this. It is certainly worthy the consideration of 

 every property owner in Massachusetts, for there is nothing 

 that would add more to the attractiveness of our State and 

 to the value of our farms than improved roadsides. 



All thought and study regarding road making in this 

 country for 3^ears has turned to grades, drainage and road 

 beds, and almost no attention has been paid to roadside 

 adornment. But the beauty that may be added to any road 

 or street at the cost of little trouble or expense is a direct 

 source of refining influences to all that portion of the pulilic 

 using them. The great variety of trees, shrubs, bushes, 

 hedges and flowers that are possible along a roadside would 

 be a comfort to the traveller and a delight to the eye. 



With our State roads, which will soon extend throughout 

 the length and breadth of our Commonwealth, and upon 

 which the State has spent millions of dollars already, we 

 should begin at once to improve our roadsides, that they 

 may be not only attractive to the travelling public, but also 

 a source of pleasure and satisfaction to owners of adjoining 

 property. 



It is acknowledged that Massachusetts has the best roads 

 of any State, and this fact is doing much to advertise our 

 farm property. Other States are feeling the efiects of our 

 State roads. The "Nashua Telegram" says that, "if the 

 Granite State is to hold the prestige of the past and still 

 remain the Mecca for visitors and tourists, the State must 



