TREES AND THE HIGHWAYS 



BY PHILIP P. SHARPLES 



ROAD ENGINEERING EXPERT OF THE BARRETT COMPANY 



A MAX from New England carries through the 

 length of his life a picture of a village street with 

 high arching elms overhead beneath whose grateful 

 shade he was wont to linger on his way from school in 

 the first hot days of June. The elm is still there and 

 ever will be the most attractive tree for highway planting. 



Highways are built not for today, but for tomorrow 

 in a long vista into the future. It behooves the engineer 

 of today to look ahead. He 

 can lay out a highway in 

 the most approved fashion 

 and put upon it a surface 

 adapted to the traffic of the 

 minute, but in the end the 

 only permanent part of the 

 way is the location and 

 this our experience tells us 

 is likely to be handed down 

 through the generations to 

 come. 



What more fitting gift 

 can we bestow upon pos- 

 terity than the chance to 

 enjoy roadways well locat- 

 ed and lined with noble 

 trees ! 



The details of tree plant- 

 ing require the co-operation 

 of the engineer, the land- 

 scape architect and the for- 

 ester. Rare is the man who 

 combines the talents of all 

 three and the majority of 

 trees must be planted on an 

 experience and common 

 sense basis. 



The engineer must de- 

 termine the width of the 

 road and the likelihood of 

 change so that the trees 

 may be placed where they 

 will not be disturbed in 

 the future. It is also up to him to tell if there should 

 be planted trees of varieties that give dense shade, or, if 

 such trees should be placed only on the north side of 

 the road, for there are road locations that require sun 

 and warmth to keep their surfaces in traversable condi- 

 tion the year through. It may be necessary in swampy 

 forest locations to ruthlessly cut the trees away from 

 the sides of the road to prevent too much dampness. 



The landscape architect must decide the most effec- 

 tive placing of the trees, not alone for the present, but, 

 with his imaginative eye, for the future. He must also 



decide the kind of tree suited to the view 'and to the 

 surroundings. Elms may be desired or a quicker grow- 

 ing tree like the maple or the linden. A swampy soil may 

 call for the weeping willow or swamp maple. His 

 problems are numerous, from the placing of an elm in 

 New England to the designation of eucalyptus and palms 

 in southern California. He may even throw up his 

 hands and tell you that neither the giant cactus nor 



the live oak will thrive and 

 there can be no successful 

 planting without irrigation. 

 The Lincoln Highway has 

 miles and miles of these 

 problems in Nebraska, 

 Wyoming, Utah and Neva- 

 da. Nothing but sage 

 brush grows and yet even 

 that, as vegetation, has a 

 charm in the desert. 



The landscape architect 

 has other subjects than 

 trees to consider and, per- 

 haps, the time is not far 

 distant when shrubs and 

 flowers may be considered 

 for our roadsides in our 

 more settled communities. 



The hawthorne hedges 

 and the roadside gardening 

 of old England are ex- 

 amples for the future. The 

 possibilities in this country 

 are not indicated in the 

 park work of our larger 

 cities. 



The forester (and the 

 arboriculturist is included) 

 must indicate the kinds of 

 trees suited to soil and 

 locality, which ones will 

 stand drouth and which 

 ones water. He must indi- 

 cate the kinds that must grow in groups for self-protec- 

 tion and which opes can stand alone battling the winds, a 

 sentinel and a landmark on some commanding hill. He 

 too must devise the plans for transplanting and must 

 attend the nurslings until they are established and care 

 for them in the future. 



In contemplating the future, let us not forget to save 

 and cherish what we already have. The engineer should 

 attempt to save the noble specimen on a new location, the 

 landscape architect should attempt to utilize foliage 

 already on the location and the forester should attempt 



THE MONARCH OF FOREST TREKS 



Redwood* on the California State Highway, mar Miranda. As Mr. Sharp- 



Irs says, the reconstruction of the battle areas in France is an easy 

 task compared to replacing such trees as these. 



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