THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
263 
market be developed. It is needless to say the purchaser, 
the nurseryman, and the country at large would all be 
benefitted by it. 
DAHLIAS 
There is nothing equals a first class exhibition of 
flowers to arouse interest and create enthusiasm. 
The Dahlia has always held an important place among 
flowers, its popularity waxing and waning. 
Just at present, judging from remarkable exhibits 
that have been staged at the different shows, and the 
number of specialists engaged in their culture, they are 
coming very much to the front. Another good sign is 
the interest and competition among private gardeners as 
to who can grow the best. 
Results of high feeding and disbudding are really ex¬ 
traordinary, and are quite a revelation to those who only 
know the Dahlia as it grows in the garden without special 
attention. Practically speaking it is more of a florist’s 
flower than one that can be handled by a nurseryman. 
It will not stand frost at any time, even in the winter- 
when the roots are dormant. This necessitates at least a 
frost proof cellar for storing the roots and a greenhouse 
or hotbed sash for propagating in the spring. 
The method of propagating the named varieties is by 
division of the roots, but with the new and expensive 
varieties this is too slow. A quicker method is to start 
the roots in growth in the greenhouse in early spring and 
make cuttings out of the sprouts. They root very easily 
and these young plants give better results than when the 
tubers are planted. 
The young spring struck plants, however, do not al¬ 
ways find favor with the amateur buyer, who likes to 
see a big plant for his money. The writer recalls a 
method practiced by an old country nursery that may 
have value under some conditions. 
Guttings were taken from the new or scarce varieties, 
as long as they continued to throw shoots. These were 
potted into three inch pots which were plunged outside 
in ashes. Orders were filled from them as long as they 
came in, or as long as the stock lasted. The balance 
were left all summer in these small pots, producing of 
course, poor starved plants, but wonderfully firm small 
tubers that made splendid stock for shipping at least ex¬ 
pense of handling. 
TREE-LINED ROADS 
France Serves Utility as Well as Beauty in Its National 
Road Building 
Sentimental appeal has given more or less vogue to 
the suggestion that trees be planted along the main roads 
of the country, like the Lincoln Highway, as a mem¬ 
orial to the soldiers of the American Expeditionary 
Forces, until for every man who gave his service for the 
country there shall be a tree as a living monument of ap¬ 
preciation. 
Possibly the idea had its origin somewhere along those 
roads in France, where American soldiers marched to 
and fro, sometimes with full ranks and quick step to¬ 
ward the field of battle, and sometimes with broken lines 
and weary steps returning from the fight. At least, the 
tree-lined roads of France are among the pleasant mem¬ 
ories that the boys brought back, and it may be that they 
will add their influence to a phase of the tree-planting 
campaign that will serve the utilities as well as the sense 
of sentiment and beauty. 
All the national roads in France, covering some 24,000 
miles, are bordered with trees planted and cared for by .. 
the government as a part of its good roads enterprise. 
When the road is less than seventeen feet wide a single 
row of trees is set out on either side; when it is wider 
two rows are planted and a footwalk provided between 
them. Four centuries ago King Francis I. is said to have 
found time and pleasure, apart from his dreams of em¬ 
pire and their consequent wars, to set out a line of Lom¬ 
bardy poplars along one of the royal roads, and the ex¬ 
ample has not been neglected from that day to this. Now 
there are said to be more than three million trees under 
the care of the Ministry of Public Works, whose con¬ 
tinuing duty it is to see to their protection and replace¬ 
ment, while with every contract for road construction 
there is issued an auxiliary contract to some local for¬ 
ester to set out accompanying rows of trees and be re¬ 
sponsible for their nurture for a period of two years. 
Their contribution to the beauty of the highway is ob¬ 
vious. Rut the French are practical in their appreciation 
of the aesthetic, and tree planting is regarded as having 
its place in the utilitarian design of road making. Roots, 
as well as limbs and boughs make their contribution, 
the latter providing shade and the former assisting in the 
natural drainage of the road bed. 
American highway engineers generally admit the value 
of such tree planting, and, of course, concede its contri¬ 
bution to the landscaping, but in general they have not 
had time, or money, or even space, to put the plan into 
practice. One fault of road improvement in America, as 
it is most generally exemplified, is that attention is con¬ 
centrated on the construction of a speedway, and if a 
smooth course can be provided of sufficient width for 
two automobiles to pass, the mileage of construction can 
be stretched according to the expense that can be saved 
on the border, and whatever is left of the public reserva¬ 
tion on either side of the roadway is dedicated to nature’s 
kindly or unkindly care. 
Country highways are regarded as primarily for auto¬ 
mobiles, secondarily for horse drawn vehicles. Pedes¬ 
trians must look out for themselves. Foot paths are not 
considered a necessary adjunct of such highways, and 
where suggestion has been made for the provision of a 
bridle path, the idea has been frowned upon as if it were 
an unwarranted demand on the part of those who can 
still afford or prefer to sit in the saddle, rather than in a 
flivver. 
Moreover, the public demand is for speed facilities, 
rather than for bordering beauty. At thirty-five to fifty 
miles an hour, one doesn’t notice the absence of trees on 
either side, and is fully content to concentrate conversa¬ 
tion on the “beauty” of the road, as exemplified in the 
absence of bumps. Possibly if the anti-billboard crusade 
ever shall accomplish its objective and the roadways be 
relieved of these atrocities, the bareness of the road line 
may make its impression on the eye of the speeding tra¬ 
veler and the place of the tree be recognized. 
Massachusetts highway builders have done some- 
