MEMORANDA ON HIGHWAY BEAUTIFICATION Submitted by the Old Spanish Trail Association Headquarters, San Antonio, Texas. There are sections of road today where beautification could begin, and other sections not yet ready. This work of highway beautification will extend through the years. The effort at this Parliament of Women is to organize and get started, and to establish the leadership of the women in the work of highway beautification. The men will build the roads, but it must be the women who will develop their attractiveness. A FEDERAL STANDARD HIGHWAY 1% of the total mileage in all states is today mapped as subject to federal aid. The states, working in connection with the Federal Road Bureau at Washington, have been deciding upon and mapping this system so that state trunklines will be developed and. national trunklines woven together, and the highways to receive federal aid determined. The Old Spanish Trail is today one of these federal highways. The remaining 93/£ of roads in each of the states is a state and county or parish proposition subject to whatever conditions states and counties choose to work out. These federal aid roads MUST bo maintained by the state or all federal aid will be stoppod. Highways in this federal system, whenever construction is undertaken with fedoral aid, must come to federal standards. This means the road-bed subgrade must have a width of 24 feet or more, with a minimum of 14 ft, of surfacing. On the great trunklines 18 ft. width is the accepted minimum surface. Bridges should be the width of the road. The right-of-way must be 60 feet or more wide. Sharp curves and corners and railroad crossings must be abolished where possible. Foundations must be •carefully built, and careful, permanent regard shown to drainage. In a word, the Old Spanish Trail must come to a relatively direct course with a broad right-of-way and built for permanence and for heavy traffic. This cannot bo accomplished quickly, but before trees and shrubs can be planted the permanent right-of-way must be known. Highway commissioners will cooperate in this, GROWING NURSERY STOCK BY THE STATE In California the highway commission has supplied land to the state forestry board and the forestry department is growing nursery stock. Extracts from the California Highway Commission report'- have been mimeographed for use at this convention. TNDIVIDUAL NURSERIES A number of sections arc planning to arrange with some farmer or individual to plant and grow for them the nursery stock they want. The Women's Bureau, Association of Commerce, Houma, La,, is doing this. In many cases it will be several years before roadside planting will be practicable, and a little nursery planted now will produce the stock in time, and at small cost. TREE AND SHRUB SELECTION Over