By Miss E. PORTER,

Out Door Art League of Santa Clara County.

"My position has been that the woody flora of any particular region is, and must ever be, the one criterion in the determination of our choice of material." (Professor Macbride, University of Iowa.)

The trend of the times is toward the preservation of natural beauty. National, state and city parks make it possible to retain much wild, unspoiled nature, of which we stand in such need. Outside these park areas, it is difficult in the march of civilization, with its manifold industries and occupations, the building of railroads and the making of homes, to preserve natural beauty. But there is the widest desire for it everywhere manifest--among landscape architects, real estate men, public officers, railway officials-and we believe that the more closely nature is studied and her counsels heeded, the less difficult the problem will become.

THE HARMONY OF NATURE.

Nature has covered the architectural foundation-the mountains, cañons and plains-with growing things which are not only in perfect harmony with the structure which they adorn, but with each other. It is possible to destroy the beauty of the landscape, not only by the destruction of this native growth itself, but also by the introduction of foreign growth into its midst, a fact not so widely recognized.

FORESTRY EXPERIMENTS.

In this connection, recent experiments in the Forestry Department are interesting and very encouraging. Where eucalyptus trees have been planted on the lower slopes of the mountains, in southern California, they have not made as satisfactory protection to the watershed as the native chaparral. Even the pines removed from mountain heights to these lower levels do not thrive as well. So it has been decided that in the Forest Reserves, at least for the present, that the manzanita, the buckthorn, the sage, and the wild buckwheat are to remain, clothing the unmarred hillsides with their lovely bloom. It is suggested further, by one writer, that the Government be asked to "reforest" the slopes already denuded, with honey-bearing plants, for the benefit of the beemen. If a useful industry can thus be carried on, at the same time protecting the watershed and preserving characteristic natural beauty, it will be one step toward an ideal civilization.

It is encouraging that the Bureau of Forestry believes it will pay to hold cut-over redwood lands for future crops, which will also aid in preserving the original landscape.

UNNECESSARY PLANTING.

In the making of homes in regions of great natural beauty it would seem desirable to alter the surroundings as little as need be, planting only to restore where nature has been disturbed. But even in summer camps one sees much effort expended in artificial gardening, all out of harmony with the delicate blooms and rugged forest trees. Of course where the home is permanent, and architecture more pretentious, and the need of formal gardening is felt, it is possible to separate the artificial from the_natural surroundings, and so prevent incongruity.

It is a pleasure to record here that Mr. F. A. Hihn and Mr. Frank L. Brown in Santa Cruz County, Mrs. Lillian Ferguson in Marin County, Mr. Charles K. Field, and others are helping to restore the characteristic beauty of the redwood region by the planting of these young trees about their homes.

CHARACTERISTIC NATURAL BEAUTY.

Each region has an individual charm produced by its native trees, shrubs and flowers. Even under artificial conditions, by using the native growth for planting, this characteristic beauty is in a great measure preserved. The native elms and maples that shade the streets and highways of New England have their appropriate quiet beauty; the royal palms forming the approach to Cuban haciendas have a tropic splendor in keeping with the landscape; and the moss-draped native oaks that lead to the old plantations of the south have a distinctive beauty that no foreign trees could give.

In Italy eminent men are urging not only the restoration of the classic native growth, but also the "removal of the new and inharmonious." The Italian Govern

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ment is to restore some of the buildings of ancient Rome and surround them with a magnificent park. Already thousands of young trees have been set out, but only natives of the soil-the laurel and the ilex, the olive and the pine-have been chosen. Our greatest landscape architects realize the value of characteristic beauty, and the folly of attempting to transform one landscape into another of a totally different kind. Only a few days ago in Denver, William Law Olmsted said (and there is perhaps no higher authority) "we should not try to imitate Eastern landscapes."

The charm of variety is not attained by assembling many kinds of inharmonious trees and shrubs together, but by emphasizing the characteristic growth of each region. We Californians, a cosmopolitan people, are slowly learning that our architecture and landscape art, as well as mode of dress, must be formed by the natural conditions of the State in which we dwell.

Plants brought from even Arctic regions would in time, no doubt, adapt themselves to new conditions, and grow into harmony with their surroundings, but why should we force nature to repeat her patient processes, when the decoration she has already prepared is so perfect and so beautiful?

TOPOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA AND HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION.

In order to bring the topography of the State clearly before the reader's mind, we quote from the opening chapter of John Muir's "The Mountains of California." "Go where you may within the bounds of California, mountains are ever in sight, charming and glorifying every landscape. Yet so simple and massive is the topography of the State in general views, that the main central portion displays only one valley, and two chains of mountains which seem almost perfectly regular in trend and height: the Coast Range on the west side and the Sierra Nevada on the east. These two ranges coming together in curves on the north and south inclose a magnificent basin.

"This is the grand central valley of California, the waters of which have only one outlet to the sea through the Golden Gate. But with this general simplicity of features there is great complexity of hidden detail. The Coast Range, rising as a grand green barrier against the ocean, is composed of innumerable forest-crowned spurs, ridges, and rolling hill-waves which inclose a multitude of smaller valleys; some looking out through long, forest-lined vistas to the sea; others, with but few trees, to the central valley; while a thousand others yet smaller are embosomed and concealed in mild, round-browed hills, each with its Own climate, soil and productions."

Through this varied and beautiful country the state highway is to pass, and many new county roads are projected or in course of construction. To construct and plant these highways, as well as those already made, so that the beauty of the landscape as a whole shall be preserved, is the difficult problem presented.

PLANTING ON MOUNTAIN ROADS.

When the road must penetrate mountain gorges or find its way among the rolling hills, skillful engineering is required to preserve the contour of the land. But in the way of planting only restoration is needed-covering scarred banks with native vines and shrubs which strengthen while they adorn-reforesting with native trees where blackened stumps show that forest giants once stood.

WATERWAYS.

When the highway at lower levels follows where cool alders fringe the stream, or where sycamores define it with their gleaming trunks, where willows bind the banks and make the low-lying country beautiful as the waterway draws near the sea, art and nature counsel "Plant only to restore."

COAST VALLEY ROADS.

When the road winds among the liveoaks of coast valley floors, there seems no question still of introducing foreign growth. What could be more satisfying than such "nature-planted" roadways? And to scatter these trees "whose rounded outlines are repeated in the soft curves of the foothills" along the intervening roadway, linking grove with grove, would seem the logical treatment, if we are to preserve the distinctive charm of the original landscape.

It is true that oaks are comparatively slow growing, but even when no more than shrubs they are very decorative. With proper care the young trees make a surprising growth, and in thirty years a man may stand under a fair sized liveoak of his own planting. But, after all, are we to plant only for ourselves, and give no thought to future generations? It would seem our duty to at least repair the natural loss among

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our native trees, thus securing the permanent character of the landscape. the esthetic value, there is the historical association and sentiment which are well worth considering.

EXAMPLES OF WRONG PLANTING.

There is no more striking example of unwise planting than parts of the road leading down the San Francisco Peninsula, the old Camino Real which is to be incorporated in the new State highway, where lines of closely planted eucalyptus trees hide and dwarf the low rolling hills beyond. An avenue of eucalyptus trees taken by itself is most impressive and satisfying, with its vista of great trunks and spreading boughs. Taken in connection with the adjoining landscape, and we believe that at least on country roads this is the main point to consider, the effect of the same avenue may be most disastrous.

An avenue of palms stately and beautiful in itself looks out of place in most parts of California. It is making a feeble imitation of the tropics out of a temperate country, often for a purely commercial reason-that is, to please tourists who are even now becoming dissatisfied with this false ideal.

IRREGULAR PLANTING.

Irregular planting of the highway contributes much toward preserving the natural aspect of the country. It helps to prevent the "checkerboard" effect produced by many conventional avenues intersecting each other on a valley floor, when viewed from an adjoining height. Continuous shade is perhaps not so much of a necessity in these days of rapid transit. There are some practical reasons which make a scattered planting very desirable-such as the quicker drying of the road; more easy avoidance of trolley and telephone poles, when the lines must follow the highway, and less injury from shade to some growing crops.

In support of this method of planting we quote from a pamphlet written by G. H. Allen, B. S., and endorsed by the Munson-Whitaker Company, landscape foresters, of New York and Boston. Mr. Allen says, "Along country roads the trees should be planted in an irregular manner, leaving intervals of open. Along city streets the trees may be arranged in a more conventional manner, although broken rows are by no means desirable."

A SPECIAL PROBLEM.

The following is one of the problems where the irregular planting of native trees seems the only solution-the planting of a highway which on a valley floor crosses and recrosses a wooded stream, at times following it for a short distance. In such a case, if an attempt is made to plant the bighway in a formal manner with exotic trees, the treatment becomes confused and absurd. For either the highway must be broken up into sections by the interruption of the stream, or else the graceful fringe of native trees along the bank is ruined by the regular spacing of foreign trees. By scattering the native oaks, sycamores or willows of the creek bank along the rest of the highway, the harmony of the whole is secured. But, could the highway in the first place have followed the stream, along its entire course, the ideal would have been attained.

NEW RESIDENCE TRACTS.

In laying out residence tracts in wooded regions, curved roads are logical and often employed, even in a level district. The trees are thus more easily avoided, and the beauty of the groves preserved. Little or no planting of the new roads is necessary. Unfortunately examples are to be seen of tracts where straight roads have been driven through the groves of oaks or other native trees, and emphasized by the planting of exotics, all in utter disregard of the original landscape.

CONVENTIONAL AVENUES.

Even when the highway or city street is regularly planted, preference should be given to native trees. The native laurel and big-leaved maple are admirably adapted for conventional avenues. And even the willow or sycamore, though losing in picturesqueness, will with care become more suitable for formal planting.

THE GREAT CENTRAL VALLEY.

In the valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin the problem of planting becomes more complex and the ideal more difficult to attain. The treeless stretches of this great valley, with the snow-capped Sierra always in sight as the dominant feature of the landscape, have their own charm. But immediate shade is a necessity in that region of great heat; and there remains only for us to plant in such a way as to mar