STREET AND HIGHWAY PLANTING. 13 



The ideal street should be marked by many fundamental character- 

 istics. Its width should be proportionate to its use and location and 

 never stinted; it should be supplied with adequate drainage facilities, 

 wide parkings and good sidewalks. Wires of all kinds should be laid 

 underground. One telephone company in Riverside has already co-op- 

 erated in this regard with good results. In other towns, notably 

 Berkeley, Pasadena, and San Jose, many of the poles are located in the 

 back yards giving a similar good result. The parkings should be planted 

 uniformly throughout the entire length of the street unless soil condi- 

 tions prevent. Furthermore, the trees should be of uniform size and 

 shape. This is made possible only by a simultaneous planting of trees 

 of the same age and a subsequent pruning throughout their growth 

 which shall be necessary to maintain such uniformity. This shape 

 should always be one which would allow free circulation of light and air. 

 This factor is assisted by judicious spacing along the parkings. 



The species must be one which does not have drooping branches to 

 interfere with the lighting of the street, either natural or artificial, or 

 must stand constant pruning. In special cases where electric wires of 

 any sort occur, some concession must be made to them. But the ques- 

 tion of surface wiring is, we hope, a temporary one, for the time should 

 be fast coming when all such wiring will be put underground. The 

 details which are of concern, should be chiefly those of the tree and not 

 of the telephone or lighting companies. Furthermore, the head of the 

 tree must be neither too dense or too open; it should be erect and not 

 drooping; and the leaves should keep in good condition until falling. 

 The ideal street should offer a perspective as in Fig. 1. 



Again, the species selected must be relatively free from the attacks 

 of insects and fungi. It would be impossible to find a tree which was 

 entirely immune, but there are some trees which are more resistant than 

 others. A case in point would be the hawthorne, which, in the Santa 

 Clara Valley and bay regions, is infected with scales and aphids, in the 

 excreta of which flourishes the sooty mould fungus which annually dis- 

 figures the trees. These conditions are, of course, controllable, but the 

 time, energy, and expense entailed make it obvious that the aesthetic 

 value of the hawthorne does not justify such effort in order to have it 

 on the street. 



The question of shade is very important in some parts of California 

 and not so much so in others. In spite of the mildness of the climate, 

 we find ourselves dependent on the sun for our comfort. For this reason 

 alone, evergreen species should be considered with considerable hestita- 

 tion, especially on streets running due south and west. In addition, 

 evergreens hold the moisture and by preventing rapid evaporation bring 



