Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-09-23
TREES.
Their Beauty I'm a Cfty-TEiear Innnfte
Value I'm b Country.

1t is said by q thoughtful philosopher
inst in our young country We have
hardly begun to appreciate the value
OF trees. We regard them as cum
berers OF the ground. The first
thing to be done to q new piece
Of land is to "clear" it. One of our West
ern States even adopts for a cost-o arms
q man cutting down a tree. We inherit
this feeling naturally enough from our
Rrandfathers, who could penetrate our
virgin forests only with the ak. But now
chat 80 much of our country has been laid
bare, we can perhaps understand the jeal-
Gus care with which trees are guarded in
the old world. The centuries of expert
ence through which man has passed In
European countries have taught him
many things that could be learned in no
other way; and one result of this expert
ence is the knowledge that trees and
forests exer q marked influence on
climate, comfort and health. They retain
in their spreading branches and In the
ground they shade an ~incalcuIable amount
Of moisture, thus keeping alive the
sources of the rills that feed the rivers.
preventing droughts and equslIzing the
temperature,
PRETTY SQUARES.
More especially would we direct atten-
ton to the great Importance of providing
here and there, in a city like ours,
little open squares or breathing-places
filed with foliage; gardens, it may be. of
only half an acre or so, i~nterspersed
among the masses of houses. Large parks
alone, though giving life and health and
recreation to those who seek them, do not
supply any fresh air or lend variety to the
crowded blocks Of houses, any more than
the open country outside the city.
need trees among our houses and
streets. Instead of the hot, glarinQ side-
walk, with its tiresome perspective of
hydrants and lamp-posts and ash-barrels.
we need rows Of shade-trees to cool the
scOrching air that drifts in at our
windows, with small ornamental SQUARES
here and there. Boston has some
good examples of these, and in the West
End of London n can hardly walk
five minutes without coming upon a
garden" or TERRACE" or Hcircle,1 some
of them public and some private, but all
as well kept as if they were private
grounds. They invariably add greatly to
the value of surrounding property.
Paris, too, abounds with them; besides
the large parks and p~lessure-grounds
there are the little squares of the Place
Chstelet and the Tour st. jacques, the
Place de pEurope, the Square duT Temple,
and the Place LOuvOis, as well as num-
berless open spaces in front of the princi-
pal churches and public buildings. Small
as they are these places are always taste
arranged with flowers and shady
and provided with comfortable
garden seats.
NECKs BROKEN,
Even now when one drives awsy from
Court street he twists his neck to catch q
parting view of the pretty park. It is not
for this fact, however, that parks and gar
lens are supposed to have such benefcis
effects upon public health. The experi-
ence of the Old-world cities is conclusive
upon this point. In London and Paris
millions of money have been expended
for the sake of public health in the forma-
ton of open spaces and wider streets.
whole acres of houses are pur-
chased and pulled down, in the very
heart of the city, az the only means of So
the light n ventilation SO neces-
TO health. Wherever this Is done in
localities there Is always a
marked decrease in b death-rate.
A SUPPOSED CASE.
Let us suppose one of our longest
blocks to have a piece cut out of the CEN
ter, from street to street, three hundred
feet in length. This could be occupied
by an Enclosure two hundred feet SQUARE
.OnO uoAOJg OoHA46 NAHAO BH1oHk0-H hN Oh
all sides. The ground taken would
amount to tw~enty-tour ordinary lots, but
It will be seen by drawing a diagram that
no less than forty lots would face directly
upon the square, to say nothing of other
lots near the corners. Now, If each of
5hese forty lots be doubled in value. the
cost of the land comprising the square
would be much more han covered, and q
handsome margin left for its decoration.
l.-I.-n o,-II ho v1Iaaal isl A--.1 u
vantage at the intersection of streets,
md, instead of being square, could be OBJ
ong or circular, or of almost any shape
hat would suit he surrounding prop
By this arrangement of small public
not only would the tiresome
nonotOny of the streets be broken, but
here would be a great variety Of corner
OTIS, with other choice positions, which
would be eagerly sought after as sites for
public buildings, or for the better class
# private residences.
HOW TO GO ABOUT IT.
But how, it will be asked, are such i'm
,rovements to be effectedP Who has the
,ower to make such alterations in the
nap of the city, We can hardly expect
either municipal or State legislation
will come to our aid. The city govern
nsnt cannot now begin such improve
nents, and in view of b many divisions
+ properly and the jealousy of property
'wners, it Is best, perhaps, that they
hOuld not. Individual efforts would
.oubtless lead to better and speedier re-
ults.
The city is now so far built up that we
an hardly hope for many innovations of
his kind, and in recently added SUI
urbs the tendency seems to do away with
1liage and open spaces rather than to
them. But much could
9 done by planting rows of
rees along some of the streets, par
IculsrIy the wider ones. There ig per
APPS not a street or a block to be found
/ the city that has been systematically
rovided with shade trees. The few stray
-ees occasionally met with have been set
ut according to the caprice of house
wners, and the trees which one man
kes, his successor frequently dislikes
nd cuts down. In this way trees are con-
,antly disappearing, but who are plant
x new Ones2 Even on a broad, high,
ssutiful street like Jones' venue and
.ong Alabama street, the native trees
lssppear, and not one is substituted by
le thoughtless people.
AN EXAMPLE.
City trees, to be effective, must not only
3 regularly planted, but regularly cared
L. It must be made somebody's BUSH
sss to see that they are preserved. By
n street entirely with elms
lother with naples, etc., great variety
beauty could be obtained. In ,
b~oulevsrds of Paris the trees are }
not in the ordinary soil of the /
rect, but In q rich mould which Is pur- .
,sely filed in TO q considerable width ,
Id depth along each side of the street, )
prevent the soil from packing about
10 roots, and at the same time to admit !
70 necessary moisture, each tree is sur
unded by a circular iron grating, set
'en with the sidewalk, and Offering no {
,stacle to pedestrians. Our German
citizens owning property, as they
everywhere, and evincing great good
Ste and industry, know how to adOrn a
use and a city. They nave in some in c
ances done well in showing how trees J
Q to be cared for and multiplied. g
THB FUTURE.
There Is no reason why Memphis, with
situation more healthful by nature than
y other large city in the valley of the +,
ississippi, should not be beautiied by a !
distribution of foliage through I
9 streets. Green leaves abound in cities Z
people have not a tenth part of the !
UcstiOn or intelligence that we have, .
d who would be utterly amazed at our
ckless extravaganza in other directions,
q there not among us men of sufficient
5elligence and taste to make Memphis 4
mething better than q monotonous
sert of brick and mortsr? 1t is greatly
be hoped that the new sections of the
Y which are next to be built may be
spped out in a way that will truly re-