ARBORICULTURE 



37 



as possible to make it. The display of 

 architectural adornment can never compen- 

 sate for natural beauty of trees. It is to 

 be hoped the courts will compel respect for 

 the personal property of residents and stop 

 the spoliation by politicians in power. 



'i^-i.'l*!!! 



TREE PROTECTORS. 



Where so much carelessness exists as in 

 American cities, newly planted trees should 

 be carefully protected by boxing. There 

 are many forms, some expensive, others 

 quite the reverse; but by some means guard 

 the young trees from the biting horses of 

 the grocer's delivery wagons, the butchei^'s 

 outfit, or the careless doctor's rig, or any 

 other horse, fastened or not secured, which 

 is liable to reach the bark of your tree. 

 After it has been ruined it is useless to 

 express your feelings else a life-long enemy 

 may be made from some former friend. 

 You have lost your tree, and it may re- 

 quire years to secure another as good, yet 



it might have been saved by proper precau- 

 tion on your part in making a box. 



What is worth doing, should be well 

 done, and the job is not completed when 

 you plant a tree until you give it fair pro- 

 tection. 



Our cut suggests a very simple and easily 

 constructed tree box. The materials re- 

 quired are, two boards, 1 x 10 inches, seven 

 feet long ; six strips 1x4 inches, twelve 

 inches long ; four stakes, hardwood, 2x4 

 inches, four feet long, sharpened for driv- 

 ing, and a few nails. The stakes, for 

 anchors, should be driven diagonally and 

 nailed to the box with heavy nails. 



These terrible fires in the forests of the 

 Northwest must be stopped. National as 

 well as state interests demand it. Destruc- 

 tive as the recent fires have been, they are 

 only one of frequent instances of enormous 

 destruction of valuable forests throughout 

 the mountain region of our western country. 

 The effect of forests on rainfall, on the 

 conservation of water for irrigation and 

 the welfare of the whole western half of 

 the United States, is such that this prob- 

 lem is no longer a western one alone. It is 

 a national proposition, for anything that 

 seriously interferes with the best develop- 

 ment of our Western States reacts also 

 against the East and South. There must 

 be co-operation on the part of local, 

 county, state and national authorities to 

 prevent the repetition of these disastrous 

 conflagrations. A century will not fully 

 restore the injury done by the great forest 

 fires in the Northwest during the present 

 month. 



The Governor of Indiana has issued a 

 proclamation designating October 24, 1902, 

 as Arbor Day, and the superintendent of 

 public instruction has prepared an excellent 

 manual for the schools of Indiana, suggest- 

 ing a programme for the occasion. 



It is pleasant to note the interest shown 

 by many of our Western States in this 

 direction. It is to the public schools we must 

 look for greatest advance in arboriculture, 

 where children are taught the value of 

 trees and the necessity for planting them. 

 Remember Arbor Day, whether it be in 

 autumn or spring. 



