50 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1896. 



ground? Possibly some groups of trees or a grove may be found 

 within easy access for use in this direction. Let this be cleared of 

 underbrush, stumps and stones, or other obstructions smoothed off, 

 tables erected and seats constructed here and there among the trees. 

 Here the hammock should find its appropriate station, a swing be con- 

 structed, with a view to safety, and numerous other appliances pro- 

 vided where child-life would find great enjoyment, and adult-life take 

 great comfort in having placed at their command such opportunities 

 for harmless and healthful recreation. 



Our Roadsides. 



Three distinct features enter into the improvement of our roadsides : 

 First, a clean carpet of grass from the travelled roadway to the boun- 

 dary line, excepting so much as is needed for a good foot-path, which 

 is the second feature, while the planting of trees for shade and shelter 

 is the remaining attraction. Here is a good opportunity for coopera- 

 tive effort. In many places our village improvement associations are 

 doing a noble work, and what they have accomplished in late years 

 within and near the villages is having a very stimulating effect upon 

 those living more remote from -the village proper. The spirit of 

 cooperation should exist ]>etween the proi)erty owners on one hand, 

 and the authorities, to whose care the maintenance of good roads is 

 entrusted, on the other. 



If our roadsides are to become the dumping-ground for all the re- 

 fuse material that it is found necessary to remove from the travelled 

 highway, or if the trees that have been planted and tended for years 

 are to become the victims of the death-dealing road machines, or 

 ploughs and scrapers, we have little encouragement to direct our 

 efforts towards the improvement and beautifying of our roadsides. 

 On the other hand, a general plan of roadside improvement, in which 

 all land owners should take a common interest, and which can Ije done 

 little by little each year when the regular farm work will permit de- 

 voting a few days at a time with team and men, will in the course of 

 ten years produce an effect upon the whole neighborhood, and an in- 

 crease in value of all property affected far in excess of the first cost 

 of the improvements. 



This work hardly needs any advice from me as to the best methods 

 of procedure. If the ground is covered with brush, remove it root 

 and branch. If a promising young tree is found growing in the right 

 place, preserve it. If trees are already there of natural growth and too 

 near each other for proper development, reduce the number so that 



