Street and Shade Trees. 33 



the trees. The*5ection where trees have given way to business is 

 probably smaller than in any other city of its size. 



In nearly all our cities, street trees are set out and cared for solely 

 by the owners or occupiers of the abutting property. Each man 

 plants, or not, according to his own taste or interest in the matter. 

 This involves much diversity, inequality and incongruity in the selec- 

 tion of species, in age and size, in the distance from the curb line and 

 from each other. Uniformity in these respects can only be obtained 

 for any given stretch of street where the work is done by municipal 

 authority. This method has been eminently successful in the leading 

 cities of Europe, and in Washington, where nearly every street that 

 has been opened and graded has been systematically planted under 

 the central authority of a special commission. But the general 

 custom in this country indicates that the American temper resents 

 official control of such matters. It is probable that the Washington 

 experiment will long remain the solitary exception on a large scale. 

 In any other city it would be difficult to organize a planting commision 

 with the same practical knowledge and singleness of purpose among 

 its members, the same prestige of authority behind it, and the same 

 respect for the law in the community. We have several examples on 

 a small scale in cities where park commissioners have had exclusive 

 control of the planting on certain avenues used as park-ways. Where 

 these have been of extra width, offering favorable conditions of soil 

 and situation, the planting as a rule has been fairly successful, but 

 where the ordinary conditions of street usage and sidewalk space have 

 been encountered failure is common. This is due not only to the diffi- 

 culty of securing favorable conditions of soil, moisture, and space, 

 but also to the lack of active co-operation, and constant vigilance in 

 protecting the young trees from damage, which can only be secured 

 where each abutting property owner not only feels a personal interest 

 in his own street frontage, but entire responsibility for it. You may 

 think such aid would be always available, but really effective assist- 

 ance is rare. Many openly condemn the scheme of the planting, and 

 ignore the benefits they receive by it, apparently just because it cost 

 them nothing. The rule that requires every man to sweep his own 

 sidewalk is equally applicable to the care of the trees. 



Few realize the constant liability to damage and destruction to which 



