204 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



gent efforts should receive, in some form or another, substantial recognition from 

 the city government. While there may be legal objections to conferring municipal 

 powers on individuals or associations, liberal appropriations might, with good prece- 

 dent, be made for the benefit of a tree-planting society to enable it to carry on its 

 work. Actuated by disinterested enthusiasm, and provided with funds for the 

 employment of competent men, the society would do as good and intelligent 

 work as any park commission, and, under certain circumstances, secure better 

 results. 



People who question the advisability of planting shade trees in cities rehearse 

 the old story about the injurious effects of smoke, dust, and pavements, and then 

 point to some sickly, deformed specimens in proof of their argument. But these 

 unfortunate trees are the result of poor selection, bad planting, and neglect ; and 

 the blame should not be laid elsewhere. Asphalt pavement, though impervious to 

 rain, will not prevent trees from obtaining moisture. On the other hand, it prevents 

 evaporation ; the earth beneath it is always damp, for there is still a supply of water 

 from adjoining areas and small underground courses. For years the street trees of 

 Washington and Paris have grown and flourished on the asphalt pavement of those 

 cities. 



It must be conceded, however, that asphalt or other impervious pavements 

 lessen greatly the supply of moisture and prevent a sufficient aeration of the roots. 

 To obviate this unfavorable condition as far as possible the flagging on the side- 

 walks should be cut out around the tree — leaving a circular space as large as the 

 situation will permit — to facilitate artificial watering, to enable more of the rainfall 

 to reach the roots, and to allow a frequent loosening of the earth at the surface. On 

 narrow sidewalks this opening in the flagging should be in the form of an oblong 

 rectangle in which the longest sides are parallel with the curbstone, as a larger space 

 can thus be obtained without encroaching on the pathway. A still better plan 

 would be to lay the flagging to the tree line only, leaving a strip of ground next the 

 curbing, covered with gravel. The intervals between the trees are not used by 

 people walking along the street. A slight slope in the surrounding flagstones — not 

 enough to interfere with walking — will increase the area of drainage and amount of 

 moisture received, and a portion of the water that falls on the house roofs can also 

 be conducted in proper quantity from the eaves-troughs and leaders to the roots 

 by conduits laid beneath the flagstones. Where there is an asphalt pavement, open- 

 ings protected by iron gratings should be left in the gutter opposite each tree, 

 through which water will find its way at every shower, or when the gutters are 

 flushed from a hydrant. 



Another unfavorable condition caused by a tight pavement is the prevention of 



