iNDiAXA iioi; Ticri rriv'Ai. society. 407 



outside of it; that the'inside wood bears somewhat the relation to a tree 

 that tlie bones do to an animal hodj-. Trees are subject to wounds by 

 accident, by the ravages ot insects and in a variety of other ways, partic- 

 ularly on the streets and the yards of a city like this, that malces constant 

 attention necessary. The trees of a city lilie thiS'With paved streets that 

 l<eep the rain out of the soil, with the eartli undermined with sewer pipes, 

 electric conduits, gas mains, hot water and steam pipes, have enough to 

 contend with to nialio their struggle for life very severe. Bnt the greatest 

 enemy that lias fur years destroyed our shade trees and made the replant- 

 ing of them necessarj^ everj' few years is the ignoramus with a saw and 

 ax who goes up and doAvn our streets hunting for the other ignoramus 

 who will employ him to multilate his trees and start them on the road to 

 certain deatli. NN'ounds are made by insects in such a way that they are 

 not (observed until fonsi(leral)le damage is d(»ne. Under cover of tlie out- 

 side dead and exfoliating baric they burrow accasionally into the living, 

 growing surface and burrow about under the bark until a considerable 

 spot is denuded down to the solid wood; other insects attack the leaves 

 and small l)ranchcs. The wind and hail break or bruise limbs. But all 

 these together if four-fold greater are nothing to compare with the rav- 

 ages to which our trees in this city have been sul).iectod by the so-called 

 tree trimmer. If there is a decayed spot or a dead limb it ought by all 

 means to be removed if it can be done. No surgeon would think of allow- 

 ing decayed hone or dead flesh to remain in the human body, if possil)le to 

 remove it. There is always danger from it. There can be no health while 

 it remains. It is a continual source of irritation, and septic poisoning may 

 result from aljsorption of the decayed matter. I can not see why a tree 

 will not be injured or poisoned by allowing rotting wood to remain, par- 

 ticularly if the dead parts are so situated that the rain falling on them 

 Is retained and the dccaynl wmid kciit moist. 1 have not had the oppor- 

 tuiuty to observe many instances of ilils, but I saw one that was so 

 marked as to leave no doubt in my mind about it. In front of my dwel- 

 ling at 51-1 Senate avenue, where I formerly lived, there is a maple tree 

 about eighteen inclies in diameter. About eight feet from the ground was 

 a liml) four or five inches in diameter that grew at right angles to the 

 l)ody. Ahout out' foot from tlie tree a limb two inches in diameter had 

 been cut from this limb so that the wound looked upward. Four or five 

 years ago, one spring, after the leaves IhuI become full size the leaves on 

 this linil* l)egan slowly to turn yellow and some itegaii to drop off. The 

 liml) liad every appearance of l)eginning deatli. On examination 1 found 

 tlie place decaying where the limb liad i)een cut off and that the wood 

 was rotten down into the center of the limb. I bored through the limb 

 from the lower side— making a hole almost as large as the one on top— 

 I found the decayed wood rnning outward in the center of the limb six 

 to eiglit inclies and almost as far toward the body of the tree. I re- 

 moved all the unsound wood leaving little more than a shell of the limb 



