CHAPTER VII. 
ROADSIDE PLANTING OF TREES 
D WELLERS in towns and cities have no monopoly 
of the duty to plant shade trees. Rural communities 
also have a responsibility in this respect—a responsibility 
no less urgent than that of people living in centers of pop¬ 
ulation. Shade is necessary on country roads as well as 
on city streets. Man’s gifts from the trees in beauty and 
in health are as valuable to the owner of farming prop¬ 
erty as to him whose residence is on a city thoroughfare. 
Trees are at home in the country. In regions uncrowd¬ 
ed by the habitations of man they have room to attain 
their fullest growth and development, thereby lending 
picturesqueness and charm to the countryside. The rural 
district which is lacking in trees is as desolate as the town 
or city likewise unblessed. It should be a matter of pride 
for the dweller in rural regions to do all he can to prove that 
the city man has none the better of him in appreciation of 
shade trees and in growing them successfully. 
The success of the American farmer in raising the 
crops that feed the nation and a large part of the outer 
world shows where he stands in ability to produce; and, 
as for appreciation of beauty, we have every reason to 
know that this is confined to no class nor environment. 
If the rural dwellers of America have failed to make 
the most of their opportunities in the planting of shade 
trees, it must be granted that the reason is the same that 
exists as to the people in our towns and cities—a lack of 
stimulus. The interest now current in roadside tree 
planting is giving the stimulus that was needed, and there 
is good ground for confidence that the result will be a 
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