66 TREES IN WINTER 



bodied man^ armed with a brush scythe, is capable of destroying 

 more good scenery within a few weeks than can be developed on 

 the same area within several years. Much of this, of course, is 

 necessary to keep the road clear, but it seems strange that 

 country and town officials implicated in such wholesale destruction 

 cannot see the folly of this practice. If it should become necessary 

 to widen the thoroughfare it would seem unnecessary to have the 

 cutting extend clear to the limits. By leaving a strip along the 

 fences, with occasional interruptions for a more extended view, 

 the effect would be decidedly more pleasing. Within a few years 

 the larger-growing species may be expected to arch over the road 

 in such a way as to furnish shelter from the hot rays of the sun 

 during the summer and cold winds of the winter. 



A still better plan would be to retain only a few of the largest 

 and most desirable specimens to furni^ the needed protection 

 and to contribute to the beauty of the wayside scenery. More 

 trees may be reserved than will ultimately be required, but some 

 of them should be cut out as soon as the trees begin to crowd. No 

 attempt should be made to select trees that are in line, but it is 

 well to choose only those that are at some distance from the road 

 bed. Whenever possible, it is well to restrict the selection in a 

 certain stretch of road to one or two species, but it is better to 

 have a great variety of species than to have none at all. For this 

 purpose it is well to select long-lived species, like the Oak, some 

 of the Maples, the Hickories, the White Elm, the Chestnut, the 

 White Pine, the Linden, the White Ash, the Tulip, the Sycamore, 

 and others. The brush around the selected trees will need to be 

 kept cut for ten or fifteen years, but after that it is not likely to 

 make much headway in the shade of the larger trees, as may be 

 seen along country roads that pass through the forest. By allow- 

 ing some of the trees to develop, therefore, the municipality is 

 eventually relieved of the necessity for annually or bienially mowing 

 the brush along the roadside. 



It is not an uncommon thing when traveling through rural 

 communities to find men engaged in cutting down fine road- 

 side trees. There are various reasons given for such action and 

 on investigation it is often found to be petty grafting on the part 

 of one or more of the town officials. Occasionally the men who 

 are found doing the work will excuse themselves on the ground 



