THE FRIENDS AND ENEMIES OF AN OAK TREE 



267 



perfect beauty, symmetry and sound- 

 ness of trunk is owned by Mr. Charles 

 H. Knapp and stands on Park Avenue 

 only a little way from ArcAdiA. But 

 Mr. Knapp's tree is fortvmate in that it 

 is in too public a place for the clam 

 eaters and not near a skating pond. 

 As soon as this tract of land came un- 

 der the control of The Agassiz Asso- 

 ciation these depredations of course 

 ceased. But in the expenses demanded 

 in the development of our work and the 

 time that had to be devoted to press- 

 ing work in the first few years, all that 

 could be temporarily done to the tree 



cAdiA were put in the hands of The F. 

 A. Bartlett Company of Stamford, es- 

 pecial attention was given to this mon- 

 arch. First there was a thorough trim- 

 ming. Huge limbs were cut off and 

 the hollow interior was given a thor- 

 ough overhauling. To remove every 

 particle of decay with chisel and mallet 

 was a long and laborious task of several 

 days. The wood was then treated with 

 an antiseptic liquid and the hollow 

 filled with a series of layers of cement ; 

 between the layers a sheet of tar paper 

 was placed to allow for the slight rock- 

 ing of the entire pyramid of cement oc- 



MIXIXG THE CEMENT AND PLACING IT IN SECTIONS IN THE TREE. 



was done. The decaying of the limbs 

 was due to the fact that the trunk could 

 not carry enough nourishment to keep 

 them in health. The tree was trimmed 

 and the danger of the trunk's splitting 

 completely apart was lessened by 

 ■cables properly placed between the two 

 main branches. The debris was re- 

 moved from the ground and the trvmk 

 filled with cement and stone, but not 

 according to the more advanced mod- 

 ern methods. 



Recentlv when all the trees of Ar- 



casioned by the swaying of the tree in 

 the wind. 



From the extreme of depredation the 

 tree has passed to the other extreme of 

 the best possible care at the hands of 

 these expert tree physicians. The accom- 

 panying illustrations show the prog- 

 ress of the work, and the completed 

 picture conveys a good idea of the suc- 

 cess that has attended the Company's 

 skillful labor. Perhaps there is no other 

 tree that can show to better advantage 

 the triumphs of modern tree surgery. 



