152 SHADE-TREES IN TOWNS AND CITIES 



water and gas mains and sewers. Such cases arise from 

 time to time in municipal work, but it is highly important 

 that contractors and builders should consult the proper city 

 officials when it is proposed to do any work that is likely 

 to injure trees. Frequently a way is found of accomplish- 

 ing the results sought without injuring a tree. In many 

 instances a tree may be saved when it seems inevitable to 

 some that it should be sacrificed. 



The writer recalls a case of two years ago when an archi- 

 tect came to the office of the Shade-Tree Commission, and 

 wanted permission to remove a fourteen-inch sugar maple 

 that stood in the way of a proposed driveway of a house 

 then under construction. He said that he had studied the 

 problem carefully, and that there was no way of construct- 

 ing the driveway without removing the tree. The premises 

 were examined, and it was found that the tree encroached 

 less than three feet on the line of the proposed roadway; 

 but that by making it slightly curved, it would be an easy 

 matter to keep clear of the tree. The architect did not 

 approve of the plan. Finally he was told that permission 

 would not be granted to remove that tree under the circum- 

 stances. He made the driveway curved, and now the owner 

 of the house is very glad that the tree was saved. 



Opening New Streets. — Great injury results to trees 

 when new streets are opened or the grade of streets is 

 changed. In such cases city engineers and boards of public 

 improvement are frequently as great offenders as public 

 utilities companies. Engineers dislike to deviate from 

 straight lines in the laying of streets, or to change the 

 width of a street, even if by so doing it is possible to save a 

 line of trees. When a street department works in conjunc- 

 tion with that in charge of the care of trees, it is sometimes 



