Evening star., 1928-05-09
SENDS PLEA
:. TOSAVE DOCWOOD
General Manager of A. A. A.
6roadcastS Appeal for Greed
~
'G of the Open Road

e. -
ss Motorists of the Nation. and partc-
Inlarly those members of the American
; Automobile Association in the District
ScY Columbia and neighhoring States,
Awere appealed to last night by Ernest
N. Snaith. general manager of the A. A.
IA, in radio address over station
&WMAL 10 observe the Greed OF the
Open Road" TO preserve the beauties
OF the rural landscape. and especially
10 protect the towering dogwoOd.
{ Giving specific instances of the great
hold that natural beauty of the out-of-
doors had upon the American public,
sMr Smith told of the former ruthless
kdeStruction practiced on some trees by
motorists. and placed the A. A. A..
fwholeheartedly behind the movement to
rpreServe not only the dogwood, but the
whole countryside from despoliation.
Mr. Smiths address follows in full:
'It has been my experience whenSrav-
cling at distant places and mentioning
2&he fact that my home was i'll wash
i4ngton to have acquaintance exclaim:
] was in Washington once during the
sCherrv blossom time. 1t was one OF
S4he most gorgeous spectacles l. nave
&ever seen. That and the Lincoln Me-
mortal alone were worth the visit.
AnN IhtS beStTucIiou.
Suppose. at the time our cherry bios
SONS in Washington were at their best,
thousands of motorists would strip the
BLOSSOMS from the trees. Would 1t not
smean a national scandal?
! OF what avail is all this ruthless de-
Instruction? There is a peculiar attitude
Ern the part of our public with reference
Ito its propensity for destroying some OF
@nsture's lavish gifts. 1t is very seldom
dor instance. that motorists will tear the
kblossors from trees when Ii is known
Wfhat the blossom later on produces a
&fruit II seems to be ingrained in the
Econsciousness of the predatory Amer-
E1can that if he stiles his desire to rob
land destroy the blossom he now covetS,
Slt will later develop a fruit which he
Nhen can seize upon.
4 The moment the dogwood has flow
Rered however. the public seems to real
ksye that this tree has reached the
height of its seasons fertility. and
Fthst it is now ripe for the plucEing. A
Stew yeas ago we used TO see automo-
bilists returning to town with their cars
filed with blossoms stripped from trees
in a manner so ruthless that in many
instances the trees were left TO die.
According to the Department of Ag
riculture. probably none of our native
,struction as the dogwood, and mostly
by well meaning people who do not stop
10 realize that our country roads are
being rapidly stripped of their chief
Spring attraction. Many trees never
recover from the attacks of these reck-
less nature lovers, the flowers wilt rap
Idly. and are then thrown away. When
branches are torn of a long strip of
bark is usually pulled of at the same
a4e rfr s3xr At oil
and If the healing Is long delayed, fun
gus diseases often enter the wound,
eventually causing the death of the tree.
Flowers Wit. Rapidly. -
II regret to say It. but the automo-
bilist has been in a large measure re-
sponsibie for The rapid increase in the
destruction Of the dogwood, rare plants
and blooms. more SO than any other
type OF citizen. In many instances,
mink. the destruction has been unwit-
Hing, but. nevertheless, it has been COM
Splete and permanent. For those who
Iwish TO seize the blossoms it is well TO
tremember that the flowers wilt rapidly
sonce the branches are stripped from the
ffree. It seems as though nature does
not wish. dogwQQd TO be anywhere else
except where nature first intended it,
"DoEyood cannot be commercially
and successfully grown inside of many
years. Therefore the person who de-
sposls the cogwood tree does a per-
nnanent damage not only TO the tree but
&c the country. and causes an injury
that only years Of careful Development
can replace.
While the dogyood tree Is found
from Maine 70 Florida. ii was not many
years age tnat IL pas particularly plenti-
I'll ir this part Of the country. The
Garden Club Of America, the Wild
Flower Preservation Society and the
American Forestry Association have
ell lifted their voices IL q common plea
70 the American public % preserve the
oogwood ir its natural setting, and TO
assist n educating the public 70 the
necessity Of not destroying wild flowers
Al estimate was once made for as
THAT nearly 10000 doggoo6 trees within
. radius o. 100 miles 81 our National
Capital had been destroyed or per-
TIlanentiy injured by the ruthless at
tzcks made upon them by people who
seize blossoms which could give salts
faction but for few hours.
Plea to A. A. A. Members.
The American Automobile Assocla-
ton gladly joins with the above organi-
zaglong in asking It's million members
throughout the country, and especially
the j7o00 members IN the District Of
GOsoUgD43t ana AtgI)FfgllHlabslS J3UVu IN
Maryland and Virginia, ~ At least OBJ
serve tie Greed Of the Open Road
That creed, proposed by nature
lovers connected with the American
Automobile Association, was rnani-
11ousiy adopted Thousands of copies
have been distributed throughout the
United States / close tire few minutes
allotted " me by repeating 10 you this
Greed ~ the Open EOsd--tfe creed Of
aYton10ysl lssts~~as follows:
'The beauty of the open road ia not
policed except By the honor of the
traveller
y. therefore. who love the freedom
~ the open roac, snail not permit that
freedom to degenerate into license.
Capable 81 pereelying the beauty Of
tees. I sssalI BE- incapable 81 destroying
that beauty for those VINO may follow.
Order Tempts Rest
'~Tf1e living radiance Of the flowers
bglgn1ens nay journey. / shall not wan
tonly yysst from them that life and
radiance.
III h. the very order ard cleanliness
of a waysi6e camp that teupts me "
halt for rest. I shall not. fBeFl. be 10
k00risS9 guest ~ ~ lesge II IN disorder
ard unciesni.neks.
II shall respect the lives. the prop
ersy and the customs u the community
through afaleh ] pass. and thus m
eeexoy ~ leave agreeable FecoiiectialE
Ct lfle pgotoT and tne mgJorist
"Ps4F38ege entails Obligation
Il WHO Fldf the ODen f0ad value aud
eHBGy Us countless yflRs.kgfH