PARK AND CEMETERY. 
Ill 
in the improvements of their roads, 
and yet they fail to provide a system 
whereby those roads may be main- 
tained in a suitable way. 
“Railway roadbeds constructed fifty 
years ago are not only in use today, 
but are getting better as each year 
passes. This is attributable only to 
the splendid system of maintenance, 
which railway managements have 
adopted and are carrying out most 
carefully ” 
“Any of these roadbeds would be- 
come unsafe for travel within 30 days 
time should the section gangs and re- 
pair crews be eliminated.” 
Those of us who have seen the 
country roads of Europe with their 
beautiful rows of large .symmetrical 
trees can not help admiring them and 
wishing to extend this system to our 
own country. 
A good deal has been said and writ- 
ten recently about tree planting on 
our country road sides. 
It has been pointed out that fruit 
trees are grown on roads and high- 
ways of European countries which 
are not only an ornament and com- 
fort but a source of revenue at the 
same time and it has been suggested 
to plant fruit trees on our Kansas 
roads. 
Cherry trees, which are mostly used 
in Germany, when planting fruit trees 
on highways, grow large about 30 
feet high, with a crown spread of 
equal dimensions and remain sound 
many years after having reached full 
growth. 
Apple and pear trees, like the 
cherry, grow to great height and 
spread and would therefore be suit- 
able for avenue planting, but it is 
desirable to use trees with persistent 
fruit, which the wind does not shake 
off, hence the preference for the 
cherry. 
In Kansas fruit trees are too short 
lived and do not grow high and wide 
enough for shade trees. The average 
life of a fruit tree in the average 
Kansas soil and climate is probably 
less than 20 years. 
Nut trees like walnut, pecan or 
hickory might possibly yield a small 
profit a few years after planting. Of 
the forest trees those would be 
preferable that attain large size, long 
life, withstand high winds and grow 
symmetrical without being trimmed 
into shape every year or two. This 
would include the oak, hackberry, lin- 
den, sycamore, varieties of hard 
maple etc. — 
In looking over our country roads 
I find that we will have to do some 
grading before trees can be planted 
and for better explanation and a 
clearer understanding I submit cross 
sections of a model German Road and 
also of our country roads. 
In our roads the cuts and fills are 
made only as wide as absolutely 
necessary for traffic, while the German 
road is graded the full width to the 
lines of the adjacent property, the 
slopes falling on the latter. This 
enables them to plant the trees on 
the same grade as the road instead 
of placing them lower on the side 
of a fill and higher next to a cut. It 
also enhances the beauty of a road, 
giving it the appearance of a more 
liberal width and a much better pro- 
spective. 
To insure success in planting trees 
care must be taken in their selection 
as to soil. Some varieties will grow 
in almost any soil, like the Oak, 
Locust and Cottonw'ood while the 
Elm and Sycamore must have a deep 
loam, free from alkali, to develop 
into perfect specimens and attain a 
long life. As we have a great va- 
riety of native trees it will not be 
difficult to find a suitable species for 
almost any soil. 
BROOKLYN PARK TREES IN GOOD CONDITION 
By J. J. Levison, Forester in Charge of the Trees in the Brooklyn Parks 
Everything looks unusually thrifty 
this year. This is because our parks 
last fall were thoroughly freed from 
dead and undesirable trees. Diseased 
and insect-infested trees are always 
removed within twenty-four hours 
after detection. The young trees 
were thoroughly fertilized last fall 
and early spring, as were also all 
the lawns. 
The winter’s cold proved unusually 
severe on plants and especially the 
exotic varieties. Nearly all the Eng- 
lish field maples in our parks and on 
Long Island generally, were winter 
killed. The hemlock and a few other 
evergreens looked unpromising in the 
early part of the season but are com- 
ing around again now. 
There are not many chewing in- 
sects this year, and whatever we had 
in our parks were killed off with ar- 
senate of lead. 
The hickory bark beetle and the 
birch borer are still killing thousands 
of trees in this vicinity, but due to 
systematic treatment, during the past 
five years, we have lost but four trees 
in our parks from these causes this 
spring. 
There have been an unusual quan- 
tity of aphids on the Norway maples, 
beeches, etc., and we are making ef- 
forts to check them. 
The sycamore leaf blight has also 
made its appearance this year and 
the affected trees were sprayed with 
Bordeaux, with success. 
ASPHALT PENETRATION METHOD of ROAD MAKING 
An Account of Boulevard Macadum Construction in Kansas 
City; by Ralph R. Benedict, Engineer of Construction 
The continual annual expense of 
maintaining the common macadam 
surface on the boulevards has reached 
a point where other methods of con- 
struction have had to be adopted. 
After several experiments with the 
different bituminous compounds, a 
specification calling for a good as- 
phaltic cement was approved. The 
main points of this specification are 
that the asphaltic cement shall be 
free from water or decomposition 
products, must have a high penetra- 
tion, must have a high flashing point, 
must not be volatile, must contain not 
more than 15 per cent fixed carbon 
and last, it must be ductile. Most all 
of the so-called oil-blown asphalts and 
natural asphalts will come under this 
specification. 
In building good macadam road- 
ways of any description, practice has 
found that the most essential point 
is to have a first-class subgrade and 
base. 
This asphaltic penetration macadam 
was made in a three course construc- 
tion. After the subgrade was made 
and rolled with a ten-ton roller, the 
bottom course, six inches thick and 
made of hand broken limestone, ap- 
proximating a six-inch cube, was 
rolled and rerolled with a ten-ton 
