This section is from the book "Tree Planting Streets And Highways", by William F. Fox. Also available from Amazon: Tree planting on streets and highways.
Nothing has been found that will equal our American Elm and Hard Maple for wide roads and double rows. As our Elms often attain a spread of one hundred feet it is evident that the seventy feet demanded in the law is none too wide ,1 space. The trees should be allowed t<> assume their full si/e and natural shape without crowding or interfering with each other. [Yansplanted, or "second growth," I lard Maples along a country road attain a large size and beautiful appearance, which require all of .1 fifty-foot space. Other species -Oaks, Basswood, White Ash, Locust. Willow. Horse Chestnut, Black Cherry, Buttonball, Beech and the two Soft Maples can be used with good results in order to obtain variety, By planting the Scarlet Oak, Red Maple and Pepperidge, the brilliancy of the autumn coloring can be enhanced by the bright reds displayed by the leaves of these species.
In some localities the Elms have been killed or seriously injured by insects; and these pests have wrought a widespread destruction recently anong the maples in the Adirondack and Catskill forests, and in village streets. The Horse Chestnuts also have been defoliated; and it may be that other species will be injured in time. While it is difficult to check the ravages of insects when large forest areas are attacked, this evil can be controlled, it not prevented, where the trees along our highways and streets are endangered, as shown by the successful use of spraying apparatus or other remedies. The planting of any particular species should not be discontinued merely because the trees may be attacked at some future time by insects. The good work should go on, and if, in years to come, there should be a recurrence of this evil we can safely trust to the remedies prescribed by our entomologists for the prevention or abatement of the pest.
There are some forest trees which are- not adapted to roadside planting, because they assume a different form when grown in tin- open, the branches growing lower down and the trunk failing to reach its usual height, although it may attain .1 large diameter. For this reason, the Birches, especially the Yellow Birch, are not desirable for streets or roadside use.
Nut-bearing trees, the Chestnut, Butternut, and Hickories, are available for highway planting. They are handsome, large trees, each species having peculiarities of habit that make it worth the notice of an observant traveler, particularly in winter, when the pleasing arrangement of their limbs can be better seen and studied. Their branches may suffer to some extent from boys in quest of nuts; but that is liable to happen wherever these trees may stand. In some European countries the roads are lined with fruit trees. But there it is well understood that the fruit, though it overhangs the highways, belongs to the farmer, whose property is respected accordingly. In this country, where widely different ideas prevail, it might be necessary to concede the traveler's claim in case fruit trees were planted along or within the " right of way."
 
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