162 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



* 

 ant question then is not so much to select the season when the cambium 

 is most active as that when the coating can be most securely applied. 

 During the warmer months the cut surface is kept moist because the cells 

 are ^hen more succulent than in late autumn and early winter, and it is not 

 always easy to apply the tar closely under such circumstances. The prun- 

 ing of deciduous trees should, when possible, be performed in the late 

 autumn or even in early winter, rather than in summer, since the tar then 

 adheres better. Another important point is to saw off the branches care- 

 fully, so that the cortex may not be torn away from the wood, leaving the 

 latter projecting. This is always a more or less difficult matter, because 

 unless the cut is made in a horizontal direction, which is seldom the case, 

 the weight of the branch itself, during the process of sawing, tends to tear 

 away the cortex on the lower side of the cut. Where it is possible the 

 branch should be propped up during the cutting, and special care should 

 be taken that there is no tearing of the cortex on the lower side. Even 

 under favorable conditions, a pocket is apt to be formed on the lower side 

 of the wound, and the application of tar at this point should be made with 

 great care, since wounds are almost always vertical or oblique rather than 

 horizontal, and rain and moisture naturally collect at the lowest point of 

 the wound, just where the pocket is unfortunately made in cutting. It is 

 evident that too great care can not be taken in covering this part 

 thoroughly. 



After this sketch of the nature of w ounds and of the danger with which 

 the life of trees is threatened, I trust that what I have said in regard to 

 treatment will appear rational and practical. I must not, however, close 

 my remarks on this subject without uttering an emphatic protest against 

 the way in which the shade trees of our cities and towns are treated. The 

 responsibility rests not only with those who, perhaps unintentionally and 

 ignorantly, are directly guilty of what an enlightened public opinion 

 should regard as vandalism; but it rests in part on ourselves, if we do not 

 in all possible ways seek to give to the public, information, and attempt 

 by all legal means to secure the enforcement of such regulations as shall 

 assure proper protection for our trees. As it is, the care of the trees in 

 our public grounds, parks, and streets is too often placed in the hands of 

 those who are ignorant of the principles of vegetable physiology, and their 

 efforts to prune and cut down trees are guided only by what seems to them 

 temporary convenience, or by what commends itself to their not infre- 

 quently perverted sense of the beautiful. When the whim seizes them 

 and they wish to get rid of a stately tree, it is only necessary for them to 

 say that it is rotten, and dangerous because likely to fall. Many times I 

 have seen trees whose shade could ill be spared, cut down because their 

 trunks were rotten, when examination after they were felled, showed that 

 they were sound and would have lasted many years. It ought to be con- 

 sidered a crime to cut down a handsome tree — certainly in public grounds 

 — unless compelled by absolute necessity. When it is thought necessary 

 for the public safety to destroy animals supposed to be suffering from con- 

 tagious diseases, there is, at least, a consultation, and the opinion of 

 experts is asked. I hope that the time will come when it will not be 

 allowable to cut down trees which are public property, except on the advice 

 of those whose training entitles them to be called experts. 



If one is amazed sometimes at the abuses of trees on the part of those 

 who are their authorized guardians, it must be admitted that the poor con- 

 dition of our- trees is principally due to the recklessness of the public. 



