1494 



RAILROAD GARDENING 



wires and poles be interfered with, nor the view of the 

 line obstructed. The danger to planting from flre can 

 never be entirely eliminated until some non-spark-pro- 

 ducmg fuel is substituted for coal 



Can the horticultiDcil depmtment of a laihoad be 

 made paithi self suppoitinq / There seems little doubt 

 that by one means or another this department might be 

 made at leist partly self supporting but the consensus 



RAILROAD GARDENING 



encroachment of shifting sand on the seacoast, along 

 rivers and on so-called desert lands, has been demon- 

 strated by the researches and experiments of the Divi- 

 sion of Agrostology of the United States Department of 

 Agricultuie The ad\ antages of such plantings are sure 

 to be e%entually iecr_Tii7 1 in 1 util 7ed by railwaj com 

 panics -n hose lines it i I i tin danger 



Planting foi t —Possibilities are 



considered _i Hon of producing 



inber for tin HI h i i jtoU s and posts 



IS asserted th it un I i iii| t nt u] eiM ion 

 lis branch can be m 1 1 n t iil\ i i i\ the en 

 It expenses of the d i utm nr 1 ui t Income a, 



of : 



2070 Railroad yard in southern California 



of opinion among railroad men is distinctly against the 

 advisability of making it so except indirectly 



It is conceivable that railroad nurseries and green- 

 houses might supply planting stock to individuals to 

 their advantage; and possibly railway rights of way 

 aggregating immense areas might be planted to crops, 

 perhaps to fruit trees as is done to some extent in Eu- 

 ropean countries (a project which has also been recently 

 suggested for the roads of India), but the opinion is 

 general that legitimate railroad business is limited to 

 the transportation of people and of freight. Even if 

 this is true, it is still certain that the department may 

 legitimately be made to yield substantial financial re- 

 turns. This feature of the department work is as yet in 

 a preliminary stage that makes definite conclusions as 

 to the extent of its benefits impossible, but enough has 

 already been done to demonstrate the usefulness of a 

 well-conceived and correctly developed policy of protec- 

 tive and economic planting. 



Planting for Protection. — 'Planting for protection, as 

 practiced so far, includes: (1) covering banks with 

 vegetation to prevent erosion, and (2) planting for pro- 

 tection from wind and snow, and from landslides. All 

 this has been successfully done in various parts of the 

 world. Snow hedges are comparatively common at home 

 and abroad. A notable example of confidence in the 

 advantage of belts of trees for this purpose is seen in 

 the groves planted recently by the Northern Pacific 

 Railway Company. About GOO, 000 trees were set out in 

 1900, and the chief engineer of the road says: "This ex- 

 periment has been undertaken to determine the possi- 

 bilitj of substituting groves for snow fences It is 

 necessai\ tj piotect all railway cuts m these prairie 



treeless prair es ca ise the SI ow to drift bally A tup 

 100 feet wi le is c iltivatt 1 to 1 eep down weeds an 1 o\ ei 

 come danger fiora faie and through the mi 1 lie of it 

 runs a gi o\ e f feet wi le the inner e Ige being l''o feet 

 from the center line an 1 parallel with the ti acks thi u^h 

 cuts Tl p tr PS arp ] 1 tc 1 m p nil 1 i ws sj c 1 

 6 feet 1 t 1 t If 



allel 



third'' 

 and tl 



ment i \i ct 1 t ] i lu e 1 ^ i i ., 



in height from both sides to the center which will fur 

 msh an effective wind bieak. 

 The feasibility of planting for protection against the 



1 1 I 1 1 1 1 ii I II I 1 1 maps no 



1 ' I III I t what ex 



t 1 1 n ] \ t locust 



111 I I 111 li 111 mess of 



(li_,nihLd thiLl i.i.,ii I 111 1 I diflicult to 



leun but th it uuiul i I ili ii ii turning 



< thtiwise unoLCupied i iilw i\ 1 n 1 i this use 

 1 certain In the st it I Inli n i hm lailway 



< impmies have pHitti 1 i j itt t th ii holdings 

 \Mth trees foi the di ubk puti>os( of glowing 



suiting leduction m t ixes which is a feature of 



tht stit, fill tii U« 



influence toi their own and the public good is 

 proved by a few instances It is learned that the 

 unofiicul work of repiesentatives of the New York Cen 

 tral and the Michigan Central roads did mm It to c\( ate 

 the public sentiment that led to the funn.ition cf ;;.iv- 

 ernment parks on each side of Niagara I'alN. ami that 

 the same roads should be credited with (■.iiiiii]-. h. nvive 

 and extended efforts to secure legislation l.ii.kiii^' tn the 

 prevention of further defacement of the palisades of the 

 Hudson. 



Disagreeable Features and their Suppression. — There 

 are two important classes of disfigurement : defacement 

 by signs and defacement by abused and neglected 

 grounds adjoining railway rights of way. The more 

 noticeable of these is the display of hideous sign-boards 

 that disfigure railway rights of way and, indeed, seem 

 to have the right of way on highways of every descrip- 

 tion. These amount to a public nuisance that should be 

 legally controlled, but as they are placed on adjacent 

 land or buildings instead of on railway property, their 

 direct suppression by railway officials is out of the 

 question. These eyesores, however, tiiniisli an added 

 and cogent reason for massin;; plaiital hms of small 

 trees, shrubs and vines at certain (mints alnni,' rii^lits nf 

 way where the topography of adjacpiit hiinl invites such 

 disfigurement. These gaudy signs not only blot out or 

 mar most fine landscape views (being adroitly placed to 

 that direct end), but are allowed to distort otherwise 

 unobjectionable farm buildings, while the approach to 

 villages and towns is announced in screaming colors by 

 the crowding together of these frightful adjuncts of 

 civilization. 



While railway companies are not strictly responsible 

 for tl t L n litions it is certain that they might swaj 

 ] I I 1 effect a much needed refoini 1 j 



t work m the wa} of jlantmg tut 



sible 



.rig 



the d lect i of tl e second 

 5 from tram \ iz thi un 

 etche Ily squall 1 aj i earance 

 ht of way tl ro 1 ^ llT-es 

 t apa k 1 1 tl 



tl I 1 1 fcatiies that ol till in lar e it nitpl 

 ably be endured until mitigated by the efforts of 

 municipal art and social service leagues. 

 Attainable /deois.— Railway companies can do no 



