OCR Text |
Show LEAVES' romV"S1 A Community Planting Project Any public-spirited local organization, organiza-tion, desiring to attract tourists, could hardly do a more effective tiling than to encourage the planting of trees and flowering shrubs along its roadsides. Both the comfort and the appearance of country roads is greatly improved by suitable roadside road-side planting and certainly a project of this sort can be done more economically eco-nomically and more effectively by community effort than by Individual effort This article, then, is in the nature of a call to local chambers of commerce, women's clubs, park commissions, school and church or-' ganizations to see what may be done in any given community to improve and beautify the roadsides. In addition ad-dition to its undoubted commercial value, a beautiful roadway helps to keep the younger generation from drifting to some nearby city because it gives them a source of pride in their own environs; It makes local, travel from country to town and back again Immeasurably pleas-anter; pleas-anter; it keeps down an unsightly and troublesome growth of weeds by every wayside; and it offers shelter and nesting places for valuable birds. PLANNING FOR SUCH PLANTINGS The beautiflcation of roadsides is necessarily a long-term project and, since whatever is done will be relatively permanent, it is wise to make definite plans in order to secure really desirable results. If the work is done In co-operation with a state forestry division, presumably presum-ably it will be carefully and intelligently intelli-gently planned; in any event, the following considerations must be kept in mind: The plantings must not hide the view of approaching traffic; they must be such as can be easily and Inexpensively maintained; main-tained; they must be of such a character char-acter as not to harbor noxious weeds, insects and plant diseases. In sections of heavy snowfall, the plantings can easily be arranged to serve as snow-barriers, thus keeping keep-ing the roads comparatively free of snow, and to form windbreaks, thus making winter travel much pleas-anter. pleas-anter. HOW TO PLANT The nature of the countryside will influence the mode of planting. In a flat country where the roads are straight it is well to plant trees in rows, regularly spaced in the row, whereas in a rough, rolling country, informal planting is most appropriate appropri-ate and largely inevitable. USE OF SHRUBS Amidst informal tree plantings, shrubs, woody vines and even herbaceous her-baceous perennials may be used to excellent advantage. In this connection, connec-tion, a recent government bulletin says: "The open spaces between shrubbery groups may be covered with grasses or dwarf herbaceous growths with more or less possibility pos-sibility of showy flowers . . . Wherever the ground has been made bare by the road work some care should be exercised to cover it with vegetation not likely to be injurious to the adjoining farm regions, otherwise other-wise it may become a breeding ground for troublesome plants." Where trees have been set in a formal planting, tall-growing trees may be Interspersed with lower-growing lower-growing ones, though in line with them, to avoid monotony. For such a purpose the flowering dogwood may be used to advantage in some sections, or specimen shrubs such as the high-brush cranberry, forsyth-ia, forsyth-ia, crapemyrtle, bluegums, oleanders, olean-ders, in other sections, depending of course upon climate and soil. Usually it is advisable to use native plants, or such as have been tried and proved under local conditions. condi-tions. CARE AND PROTECTION It must not be assumed that all that is necessary in order to have beautiful roadsides is to plant a few trees and shrubs and let nature do the rest. Such plantings require care: They must be cultivated for several years to discourage the growth of unsightly grass or weeds; they may need an occasional pruning; prun-ing; they may require spraying. Such care with its attendant expense, ex-pense, must be provided for. Neither the labor nor the cost of roadside planting is excessive; nothing noth-ing could more effectively express a commendable local pride than will such an improvement project; and few things will result in greater all-round all-round value to the community. For lurthei Inlotmmoa lend tfv eemi t Superintendent el Document. Wishing-ton, Wishing-ton, D. C, liking lot Farmers' Bulletin No. 111, 01 6ve eenti, liking lot Firtners' Bulletin No. 1412, or JO cents lot (tola. SOMETHING ABOUT HAWKS Although the hawks are distrusted by the farmers and are generally hunted without mercy, it should be remembered that they feed not only on-ly upon poultry, which may be with them only an occasional article of diet but very largely upon fljld mice, snakes and Insects. They are thus, in most cases, of much greater value to farmer and gardener than they are a menace. The hawks include falcons, buzzards, buz-zards, and kites. They were lor-merl) lor-merl) trained for use in hunting |