STUDIES PRELIMINARY TO PLANTING 77 



Opposite or Alternate. — On narrow walks and streets the 

 plan of alternating the trees zigzag fashion on both sides of 

 the way is found preferable, because the distance at right 

 angles across the space is so small that the trees would in- 

 terfere with each other's growth, but in the case of broad 

 streets more effective results are obtained by placing the 

 trees opposite each other. By that method the trees at the 

 intersection of the two streets are symmetrically disposed 

 with respect to the four corners. 



Treatment of Corners. — Exactly at a corner is a bad place 

 for a tree, as that spot is usually reserved for a lamp-post, 

 letter-box, fire-alarm box, catch basin, or other street fix- 

 ture. At a corner, also, a tree would be exposed to injury, 

 and the curbstones, half surrounding it, would cut off a 

 great deal of the nourishment from the soil. The best 

 arrangement for trees at street crossings, therefore, is to 

 set them from twenty to twenty-five feet from the inter- 

 section of the curbs, so that there will be eight trees at 

 every four comers, as shown in Fig. 10. 



Setting Trees Between Sidewalk and Property-Line. — 

 While the usual space reserved for tree-planting is the strip 

 between the curb and the sidewalk, trees are sometimes set 

 on the strip between the sidewalk and the property-line. 

 Trees so located are not exposed to the injury of horses and 

 passing vehicles. The soil between the sidewalk and the 

 property-line is also likely to be of better quality, and the 

 trees will grow better. Such plan of planting is to be pre- 

 ferred if the street roadway is rather narrow and the houses 

 are set far back from the sidewalk. If the houses are very 

 near the fence-line it is evident that the trees will be too 

 close to them and will shade them too much. On the other 

 hand, the roadway will get too little shade. It is for these 



