io6 
TREES AS GOOD CITIZENS 
ful planting has been practiced over a considerable part 
of the country. 
The Beech has many qualities which commend it for 
highway planting. It is a tree of rugged growth, with 
dense foliage of surpassing 
beauty, and lends genuine 
charm to the roadside land¬ 
scape. Its one drawback, a 
minor one, is that its smooth 
white bark is a perennial in¬ 
vitation to the carving of 
initials. The beech is wide- 
spreading as to limbs, round- 
topped and symmetrical. Its 
native field is for the most 
part in the north, but it also grows to large size alongside 
the Magnolias of southwest Georgia and other South¬ 
ern states. 
The same graceful dignity which makes this tree so 
highly prized in parks and on private estates makes it a 
favorite for roadside purposes as well. It stands a good 
deal of shade, but requires rich, cool and fairly moist soil; 
it should never be planted in soil which is dry or gravelly. 
It will thrive in soil some¬ 
what too wet for the Black 
Walnut, Shagbark Hickory, 
or Pecan, but must not be 
planted in soil where the 
moisture is excessive, as in 
swamp lands. 
The Chestnut has many 
points of value, but the rav¬ 
ages of the deadlyblight ren¬ 
der its use hazardous in 
