TREE DOCTORING. 200 



When the planting is done in the spring, cut the tree back as soon 

 as set, to twelve to eighteen inches. Peach trees are cut to the first 

 height, and apples, pears and crab apples to the latter. If the planting is 

 done in the fall, the trees need not be headed back until towards spring. 



There is one serious drawback to fall planting, and that is the rab- 

 bits. The jackrabbit is the worst of all. We have used protection, but 

 with no degree of success. The method that has been fairly successful 

 was to put a man out on the tract with a dog and gun. In this way we 

 kept them pretty well thinned out In some sections the orchardists 

 build rabbit-proof fences. However, we do not feel the necessity of going 

 to that expense. 



CHAS. A. COLE, Idaho. 



NOW IT'S TREE DOCTORS, 



HEALING WOUNDS, FIXING BROKEN LIMBS AND FILLING 

 CAVITIES IN TREES IS THEIR MISSION. 



Do you know what a tree doctor is? No? Well, he is one of the 

 latest claimants for attention in horticultural work. He is just like any 

 other doctor, in that his business is that of treating the sick, but his 

 patients are trees, rather than man or animals. As a profession tree doc- 

 toring is yet in its initial stages, but it is a thrifty youngster, and tree 

 doctors there will be in plenty ere another decade passes. 



The business of a tree doctor is essentially that of repairing wounded 

 trees, so that they may continue their usefulness for years. There is no 

 good reason why beautiful shade trees, or prime fruit trees should decline 

 and be broken to pieces by storms. A little skillful attention can put the 

 tree into shape that rivals its youthful vigor. In the parks and lawns of the 

 eastern cities the work of the tree doctor is coming to be more and more 

 in evidence, but it is spreading westward, and tree doctors are finding a 

 world of work in the city parks and in the orchards of the great fruit dis- 

 tricts of the middle west. 



John Davey is the father of tree doctoring, and has fostered and en- 

 couraged the business for a lifetime. For years he worked alone, but the 

 demands upon his skill necessitated his training others in the work, and 

 now there are Davey Tree Experts by the dozen. As a class, they are 

 quiet, agile, well-trained young men, who love the beauties of nature and 

 who have a deeper understanding of the ailments of patriarchal trees than 

 even the skilled orchardist or forester. 



Early in the summer of 1911, some of these young men representing 

 John Davey were in the city of St. Joseph, Mo., rejuvenating some stately 

 shade trees, and the work cahie to the attention of John Donovan. Now, 

 John Donovan had a family orchard of ancient lineage, that was his pride 

 and joy, but several of the trees were on the downward road, because 

 Mr. Donovan made no pretenses at being a thorough orchardist, and the 

 storms, insects and fungi were beginning to leave their footprints in this 

 family orchard. At the suggestion of one of his neighbors, Mrs. S. N. Cox, 



