West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1907-08-22
PLANTING OF TREES.
How to Avoid Monotony and Hideous-
ness In Streets.


In the busy rush OF life we are apt
to take the short cuts. writes sid J
Hare, landscape architect ia Park and
Cemetery, Chicago Some wise mathc-
matlcian has told us that straight
line Is the shortest distance between
two points. and man Is therefore prone
10 forget that nature makes very Few
straight lines. almost invariably start
straight city or town street with
straight line of curb. straight line
of trees or perhaps two straight
sidewalk line 0nd possibly another
straight line OF trees. an parallelcd 10y
fences and set 10 harmouize and en-
phaslze this stiI departure from ma
ture. Is hidoOus even N 10 is the short
est distance But We have them. and
what can we do to improve them?
How can we break up this monotonous
samenessT \ city or town block sur
rounded by lines OF trees set equal
distances apart. growing up into spite
fences. surrounding the homes built
within has been likcncd 90 setting our
homes down I'm a box with only a little
OF the blue sky 60 be- seen above.
Light, mir and beautiful views are cut
or. and the home. although ON the top
OF hill. f. no better located. so far
as views are concerned. than Is the
one In n deep ravinc In our boule-
wards we plant six rows of trees. shut
ting out beautiful country views. hid
ing lovely river, lake and mountain
vistas, with absolutely no thought of
the great destruction ana reduction
OF values OF once beautiful home sites.
1t Is not art II is not nature 1t is
not wise. nor IS it malice aforethought.
1t is ignorance. thoughtless ignorance.
OF the existing beautiful surrounding
home sites on every side.
How can It be improved? BY plac-
ing I'm charge OF each piece OF worl, the
keen eyed observer and admircr of the
beautiful. the one who can select the
best points OF observation. the future
house sites. the places where one would
linger and drink In the grandeur OF the
views. Have him along with your
load of trees and give him full charge
VI Ho9 ilHt leave luhN NlNNi Nlfls
Don't plant there you shut of my
view Of that river. lake, woods or dis
tant hill" Again he Is valuable. MS he
sees the Objectionable features, the
tumbledown barns, the deslccatlng
works. the thing that mars the land
scape. Here he plants thlckly and
hides from view that which rcpels the
aesthetic nature Of man. How can this
all be Accomplishment BY planting in
groups-groups set with an eye to the
artistic, groups set by themselves. with
open space where full sunshine breaks
In and lights the pathway for man and
the speedway for horses; then by
combining trees and shrubs TO break
the monotony. BY SO doing we can
mitigate some of the straight lines Of
our city and town streets. Our city
and town streets and boulevards can
be made more beautiful. every home
site enhanced in value and n continue
ton OF surprises shown the driving
and walking public. where we are now
hedged in with trees, all set I'm straight
rows 10 make our boulevards look like
tenpin alleys. Residents cannot see
beyond their own grounds, and grass
In time refuses 20 grow in the shade
of thlckly planted boulevards Nature
never duplicates It's roadside planting.
No matter how far you go. no matter
how many views you take, all are diff
ferent