P16692HP
Fig. 5.—A tree mutilated by linemen. An otherwise beautiful red oak in Louisville, Ky., as it appeared in midsummer.
Success in planting street trees can be attained only by planning and controlling the planting as a whole, by selecting the most suitable varieties, by securing trees in the best condition and planting them properly, and by giving the necessary later care.
While towns were small, conditions for tree growth favorable, and woodlands plenty, so that native trees were easily obtained and started, the practice of each householder planting his own trees as he saw fit gave good results. As towns became larger and impervious pavements took the place of earth roads, the conditions for tree growth became more severe and the results from the individual planting of trees less uniform. In large cities the conditions to be met are so extreme that it has become practically impossible for the average householder to grow street trees successfully, or to do so only at excessive cost. Then, too, a lineman in a few minutes often undoes what the individual has achieved with care and years of patient waiting (see [fig. 5]). The trees and the lines are both needed by the public, but when provided by individual initiative at private expense, but trimmed for the benefit of electric lines by employees of corporations intent on maintaining service at the least cost, the trees suffer unduly.
In order to have good shade trees at a reasonable cost which receive timely and efficient attention, with the effective control of wire lines, the care of the trees needs to be vested in some adequate authority.