DlCCEMBEIl I'.l. IIMI]. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



117 



The late Edmund M. Wood. 



blest products nf nature. I5y many tlicy 

 are so valued; l)ut there arc others — 

 careless, untliinkin<r, or ignorant — who 

 may be classed among the enemies of 

 trees; for the enemies of trees, sad to 

 say, are not contined to insects or lower 

 organisms: the greatest mutilation of 

 street trees is done by the hand or 

 through the negligence of man. 



An examination of the trees in the 

 streets of Boston will show that one- 

 half are injured by the gnawing of 

 horses; one-third are injured, in aildi- 

 tion, by the employes of i'(ir|iorati(]ns in 

 stringing wires fur lighting or (jther 

 purposes. Others, again, arc injured by 

 contractors employed on various works 

 in the streets or adjoining ])roperty — a 

 contractor or a lineman seldom hesitates 

 to use a convenient tree as a guy post, 

 yet a tree cannot be so used without 

 injury to it. Municipal employes, tliem- 

 selves, are generally without instru<tion 

 to care for street trees, and, therefore, 

 are careless of their well-being; in fact, 

 will cut half the roots or branche.= from 

 .1 tree unnecessarily and without thought 

 or compunction. 



The greater part of this destruction is 

 caused by lack of knowledge or ap|)reci- 

 ation on the part of employers. of labor, 

 and of public officers, of the value of 

 trees to a city. Of laws there are 

 enough on the statute books, I have no 

 doubt, if enforced to protect the trees 

 from despoilment. Of what use are dead 

 laws? The remedy for the evil is in 

 their enforcement. Protection would be 

 a simple nuittcr were the police instruct- 

 ed to arrest wanton or careless destroy- 

 ers of trees. This in itself Avnuld lie an 

 education. Trees would have additional 



value in the eyes of the masses were an 

 interest displayed by public officials in 

 their jirotcction and care. 



lint what shall we say of those who, 

 while not enemies of trees, do not plant 

 trees when opportunity offers? As wit- 

 ness, the streets before mentioned — Bea- 

 con, JIarlboro", Newbery, and other 

 streets in the Back Bay. It has often 

 l)een a source of wonder to me how so 

 many cultured peo])le could seemingly 

 he of one mind in the exclusion almost 

 of trees from these streets, resulting, as 

 it does, in such inliospitable barrenness. 

 To pass through these streets in sum- 

 mer, one ceases to wonder that the 

 houses on either side are deserted; in 

 the fitness of things it seems proper 

 that from such conditions people should 

 flee, seeking the shade and comfort de- 

 nied them at home because of their own 

 careless neglect of the advantages they 

 might secure by planting trees in their 

 streets. It may be, however, that the 

 sununer hegira from the aristocratic dis- 

 tricts has something to do with the lack 

 ol tree planting; not lieing present dur- 

 ing the heat of summer the great need 

 of shade is not observed; yet it is not 

 only in summer that trees are effective; 

 in spring the swelling buds give an 

 addi'd cliarm to the delicate spray-like 

 ellect of the branches that is so beauti- 

 ful in winter; while at all seasons trees 

 lend a softness to hard architectural 

 lines. Under competent management 

 there is no reason why these streets 

 t.lionh! not be embowered with trees, and 

 llius' relieve the Back Bay district from 

 iis monotonous appearance. 



Another, and an insidious, because un- 

 cou;-cious, enemy of trees is one who 



would compel them to live under crowd- 

 ed iiinditions, wdio would not cut out, 

 or peiniit others to cut out, a tree even 

 tlcugh it were injuring or killing its 

 neighbors. Greater injury to trees in 

 Boston's streets and lanes has been 

 wrought from this cause than from any 

 othei. This tree enemy is everywhere 

 prevalent, and is largely responsible for 

 I lUch tree mutilation and destruction. 

 ICv'sry city, nay, every street, every park, 

 ai d every lane can point its victims. 

 This enemy, as I said, is insidious and 

 hard to overcome because well-intention- 

 ed. While striving to prevent trees from 

 having the light and air that nature de- 

 mands, this enemy may, perhaps, be one 

 of a board of philanthropists tearing 

 down buildings to make open spaces to 

 bring roses into the cheeks of the chil- 

 dren of the tenements. 



While speaking on the subject of the 

 crowding of street trees, I would re- 

 mark that the general tendency is to 

 [ilant street trees too closely together. 

 It is lU'ither necessary nor desirable to 

 shut out all sunlight from the sidewalk 

 or roadway; occasional glimpses of sun- 

 light are life-giving and add cheerfulness 

 and variety to street life. Sometimes 

 trees are planted thickly in the streets 

 for quick effect, with the intention of 

 after-thinning. But this good intention 

 of the planter is seldom carried out. It 

 would be wrong, however, to say that 

 this is not a good plan because its de- 

 sign is not carried out. For I believe 

 the time to be at hand when the public 

 in general will be sufficiently advanced 

 in horticultural knowledge and in the 

 desire to liave its streets adorneil with 

 well grown trees, to take advantage of 

 the best methods of bringing about this 

 result. 



That the desire to preserve trees is 

 growing is proven by the passage of an 

 act in 1S!J!), by the Legislature of Mas- 

 sacliusetts, "To codify and amend the 

 laws relative to the preservation of 

 trees." The statute makes it obligatory 

 u])on towns to elect a tree warden, and 

 authorizes him to have the entire charge 

 of public shade trees. Under the act 

 the warden is clothed with authority suf- 

 ficient for the purpose of properly pro- 

 tecting and ]ilauting trees in the public 

 streets and highways. The clause rela- 

 tive to the raising of funds for the above 

 purpose, and for fighting insect pests, 

 is not obligatory in its terms; it simply 

 says that "towns ma.y annually raise 

 and appropriate such sums of money as 

 they deem necessary to be expended un- 

 der the direction of the tree warden.'' 

 Tliis act is good, and is a step in the 

 right direction. Leaving the raising of 

 the necessary money to carry on the 

 w(uk to chance, as it were, however, 

 rather hampers it in the execution. 



As this .statute only applies to towns, 

 the trees of Boston are not within its 

 scope of operation. In a measure Bos- 

 ton recognizes its obligation to the trees 

 on its piiblic streets. The recognition is 

 so slight, however, that the most crude 

 attention only can be given to their 

 Avanfs. If I am correctly informed, even 

 the wire protection recently applied to 

 many of the trees to protect them from 

 the gmiwing of horses, was the gift of 

 a iniblic spirited society. 



iioston is not parsimonious in its ap- 

 Ijropriations for public works. Why, 

 then, should it neglect a matter of 

 such importance as the care of its shade 

 trees, when their care stands for so much 

 that is beautiful and of advantage to 

 the city. In Washington they do these 



