Ornamental and Shade Trees 



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



Edited by J. J. Levison, B.A., M.F. 

 City Forester of New York City 



WHAT WE CAN DO FOR OUR TREES IN WINTER 



THE general feeling that one can do very little work 

 on our trees during the winter is all wrong. One 

 charged with the care of trees in a park, on city 

 streets, or on a private estate, can do for them in late 

 fall and winter almost as much as during any other period 

 of the year and in special cases even more. 



Let us see how this works out. When we deal with 

 groups of trees, woodland groves or avenues lined with 

 trees, we generally find some specimens badly infected 

 with destructive bark beetles, borers and fungous dis- 

 eases. If the trees that are hopelessly infected are marked 

 (painting the trunk with white paint is a convenient way 

 of marking) before the leaves drop, and removed and 

 burnt before the following spring, the danger of infecting 

 the neighboring sound trees during the spring and early 

 summer is entirely eliminated. 



In New York State, for instance, we are seriously 

 troubled with the hickory bark beetle attacking the hicko- 

 ries, with the two-lined chestnut borer attacking oaks, and 

 with the bronze birch borer on the birches. The removal 

 of the branches and trees infested with these insects be- 

 fore May would eliminate the pests from the premises. 



When trees die from old age, or from some special 

 local cause, it is advantageous to postpone the removal of 

 these until the winter. 



Suppose your trees are infested with caterpillars, let 

 us say the well-known Tussock moth, or the Gypsy moth, 

 during the summer months. If so, you will find that 

 these insects produce conspicuous clusters of eggs which 

 adhere to the trunks and branches of the trees all fall 

 and winter. Each of these egg clusters will produce hun- 

 dreds of caterpillars if allowed to remain undisturbed 

 after May. Is it not, then, preferable to fight our pros- 

 pective crops of caterpillars by destroying in the winter 

 time the egg masses which produce them? The egg 

 clusters can be picked off or scraped off on canvas or 

 paper covers spread on the ground and then collected and 

 burned. The application of creosote to the egg clusters 

 will also destroy them. 



This is not all we can do in our dormant season. In 

 the late fall we can fertilize the weaker trees, the shrub- 

 bery beds and the rare specimen trees with well-rotted 

 manure. The manure should be dug in and mixed with 

 the soil and should be concentrated near the tips of the 

 roots rather than near the main trunk. A thorough fertil- 

 ization of the trees in this manner will invigorate the trees 

 and keep the tree doctor away. 

 680 



The ideal material for invigorating trees in the man- 

 ner just described is a compost consisting of manure, 

 leaves and soil. Now is the time to form the compost 

 and this will add another important undertaking for the 

 late fall. The leaves raked from the lawns should not be 

 burned. They should be collected and spread out on the 

 compost pile. A layer of manure should be placed on top 

 of the layer of leaves and a layer of soil over the manure. 

 The process can be repeated several times until a suitable 

 heap is formed. The compost heap may then be watered 

 down thoroughly and turned over several times during the 

 year. The material at the end of the year will be thor- 

 oughly decomposed and ready for use. Provision should 

 also be made to draw off the surplus liquid manure so that 

 it will not be wasted. 



To those who still feel that they will not have enough 

 work to keep them busy during the cold season, let me 

 add such important items as cleaning out all cavities and 

 decayed wounds of the trees and covering the exposed 

 wood with coal tar. This is a necessary work wherever 

 old trees exist, and one which can be done just as effec- 

 tively in winter as in summer. If you have woodland 

 to care for, there is plenty of opportunity to thin out the 

 overcrowded trees, giving more growing space and light 

 to the better species. 



There is also room, in the winter time, for remov- 

 ing useless suckers from the old chestnut stumps and 

 for encouraging the young seedlings in competition with 

 others of lesser value. In face of these numerous under- 

 takings that one can resort to during cold weather, there 

 surely is no reason for the owner of trees to say that 

 he cannot do effective work and equally as much in winter 

 as in summer. 



LANDSCAPE FORESTRY 



RB. MAXWELL, M. F., City Forester of Balti- 

 more, Maryland, contributes to this department 

 • the following interesting defense of landscape 

 forestry. He says: 



" Is there such a profession as Landscape Forestry, or 

 is the term a misnomer? Those of us who are arborists 

 and landscape foresters believe that the science exists, but 

 how are we to prove this, and to defend it against the 

 attacks of those critics who claim the work to be a part 

 of Landscape Gardening? 



" As I see it, landscape forestry is forestry having as 

 its aim the propagation and maintenance of woodlands 



