Ornamental and Shade Trees 



A Department for the Advice ami Instruction of Members of the American Forestry Association 



Ei)iTi;i) iiv J. J. Lkvison, B.A., .M.F. 



DAMAGE BY SPURS 



V>\- losEi'H L. Richards, B.S., M.S.F. 



N()r.()l)Y loves a liiu'iiian," At least, that seems 

 to he the ease anioii,i; people who appreciate the 

 heauty and utility of roadside trees. 



Certainly, great numbers of the men in that trade 

 have done much to create this undesirable situation. On 

 the other hand, neither the men of the wires nor the 

 policies of the public utility companies which employ 

 llieni are entirely to blame for the condition of the shade 

 trees that have stood in the way of electrification. In 

 many instances the tree-loving jiublic has blustered much 

 and done little to supply the means of preventing dam- 

 age to their trees from this cause. Too often it has relied 

 upon legislation instead of cooperation. 



In communities where a munici])al arljorist is able 

 to keep the wires clear or assist in doing so by detailing 

 the city's trained tree men to work with the line gangs 

 and do all the tree climbing, much damage and discord 

 is avoided. Such arrangements keep men who have 

 neither the training nor the equipment for doing scien- 

 tific tree work, and whose feet are shod f<jr climljing 

 dead poles, out of living trees. Every wire-stringing 

 public utility com(jany will maintain that it is unreason- 

 able to require it to supply to each of its line gangs the 

 arborist's outfit necessary to do proper tree work. The 

 great majority of them, however, will agree to cooperate 

 in undertakings that will free them from the interfer- 

 ence of trees either by planning the arrangement of the 

 trees and wires on the highways or by proper training 

 and care of the trees. 



For several years a number of tree wreckers were 

 at large whose activities were nothing short of crim- 

 inal. ICven the excuse of the necessity for maintaining 

 right of way for transmitting messages and power was 

 lacking for the damage which they did in the localities 

 where they ojjerated. These men represented them- 

 selves to be tree trimmers. After securing the assent of 

 an owner they |)roceeded to butcher his trees and trim 

 Ins pocketbook. The tree trimming consisted of stub- 

 bing otT the branches without taking any precautions 

 against decay which the arborist takes when he cuts back 

 a failing old tree in order to reduce its top to correspond 

 with the lessened efficiency of the root system and so pro- 

 long the life of the tree for a few years. The amount 

 which the trimmer cut off depended largely upon his dar- 

 ing. The size of the stubs left was directly proportional 

 to his caution or fear of falling. In some places, docked 

 trees became stylish, and as a result of this service, the 

 trimmed trees sprouted \igorously for a few years and 

 228 



then began to fall apart owing to the decay that had got- 

 ten in through the unprotected wounds. 



The difference between the tree trimmer who uses 

 climbing irons {i.e., lineman's s|)iu>) ami the \andalis- 

 I'calh- incliiijd lineman is onh- one of degree. The tree 



WOUNDED BY I^INEMAN'S SPURS 



Section of trunk of Norway Maple, siiowing 4-year-oId wound 

 started from two adjacent spur-marks, botii of wliicli are vis- 

 ible. Note the crack through the lower one caused by the dry- 

 ing out of the e-\i>osed wood. Cracks like this one hasten the 

 entrance of heart-rots. 



liimmer that uses spurs is a strange contradiction. He 

 IS in a class with the AI. D. who treats a wound and 

 then pricks his ])atient in several other places with un- 

 sterilized instruments. 



To get the force of this comparison it is necessary to 

 recall the structure and physiology of trees and ]5oint out 

 iheir relation to the disease organisms which attack 

 them. 



