Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1909-06-05
TREES AS BEAU1fFIERS
Results Obtained In Holland
Through Systematic Culture.
EXAMPLES FOR AMERICANS.
Small Cost Per Capita For Care of
Trees In Utrecht and The Hague.
View-Their Worst Enemy.

Valuable From Hygienic Point of
View-Their Worst Enemy.
Now that there Is beginning a gen
cral movement in the United States to
bring about systematic cultivation of
trees, not only by rcforestation on a
grand scale. but by the growth Of
shade trees in towns and cities for the
OrnamcntatiOn of streets. the expert
cnce of Holland in providing forest
effects for its citizens should be of in
tcrcSt to Americans. There is perhaps
no other we'll populated country in the
world which has so many well wooded
towns as has Holland. Most of the
streets and grachts, or canals, have av-
enu"S of trees. Utrecht has two rows
of trees on either side of its quaint ca
nails. Its canal banks are constructed
rs if in two stories. The lower story,
almost flush with the water level, is
lined with warehouses and vaults.
while the upper story has dwellings
and shops. Both levels are planted
with trees, the tops of the lower ones
just reaching the street level.
So many avenues Of trees make a
Dutch town exceedingly pleasant, eS-
pecially on n hot day. The foliage
tcmpcrS the glare of the sun. and the
viStaS of green are refreshing to the
eye. But these abundant growthS In
thickly populated towns are highly
useful as well as ornamental. 1t is rec
ogniIcd that from a hygicnic point of
view they are valuable to the citizens.
Not only do shady walks tempt peo-
pie to enjoy the open air, but the liv
ing roots i'm the soil have Il purifying
effect, which was by no means to be
dcSpiSCd in the past, when the drain
age of Dutch towns left much to be
desired. Further, the foliage produces
ozone and purifcS the air. 1t also
tends to keep the air moist and to
temper the wind. thus causing less
dust TO be blown about. In the au-
tumn the fallen leaves give the same
kind of service that is given by tea
leaves scattered on Il floor when the
room is to be swept they lay the dust.
More important still, trees wage war
upon noXiouS bacteria. for invcstiga-
UonS by scientists show that these
harmful grOwthS are comparatively
rare whore trees are PLENTIFUL Be
sides all this, the aesthetic value Of
beautiful trees certainly is not small
In Holland all these useful services
are gratefully recognized and the trees
are carefully tended by the muniCipali
ties. The cost of this care per capita
in the different towns varies some
what Last year, for example, Utrecht
devoted 21 cents 0DutcM to It's trees
for each inhabitant and The Hague %
cents for each of its 259,OOO citizens.
1t takes 2la Dutch cents to equal an
American cent. About ten years ago
the annual cost of caring for the trees
of The Hague was 10 cents 0Dutch)
per capita, but since that time many
new trees and shrubs have been plant
ed throughout the city, and new parks
have been laid out.
1t has been found that not every
kind of tree will thrive in the streets
of a town, for trees have many enc
mics both above and below ground.
Gas escaping from pipes underground
is the worst enemy Of trees, because
quite small quantities of it are deadly.
For this reason special precautions are
taken against the leakage of gas in
Dutch towns. How electricity cScap-
ing under ground acts upon trees as
yet has not been sufficiently studied
to be understood. Trees will not grow
in very narrow streets where the
houses are high. Neither will they
thrive If the pavement does not let in
moisture and air in sufficient quanti-