56 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



workers wear themselves out with labor in a few weeks, 

 though in winter their life is prolonged by inaction till 

 the spring. Drones live onl}' in the summer season, and 

 when the honey begins to fail in the fall of the vear. the 

 workers drive them out, and they are seen dead and 

 d_\ing at the doors of their former home. Queens are 

 produced from the same kind of egg that produces work- 

 ers. Their larval stage is passed within a special large 

 cell, where they are provided with very rich food, caus- 

 ing them to attain full development. The queen is thus 

 a complete female, while the workers, in consequence of 

 "famine rations" in the grub stage, are stunted to the 

 size they remain the rest of their lives. 



The brood in the hive consists of bees of both sexes in 

 each of the thr^e stages that characterics all insects, as 

 eggs, larvje or grubs, and the pupa, or chrysalis. These 

 latter are sealed in the cells of the honey-comb, and are 

 known to the beekeeper as sealed brood. 



The food of the bees is honey, and that of the brood 

 is honey mixed with pollen from the flowers. Consider- 

 able water is used in the brood raising, and in early sum- 

 mer bees are frequent visitors at nearby ponds, horse- 

 troughs, or pumps, and wise beekeepers provide them 

 with water in the apiary, where they can get it without 

 troubling the neighbors. 



In the JNIarch number we will deal with the beekeeper's 

 equipment. 



The Right Care of Old Trees 



EDWIN MATTHEWS 



A TRL'M plani^nian will enthuse over a bed of Oak 

 ■**■ seedlings, a block of young evergreens or a field of 

 Peonies, but the feeling he has toward an old mighty 

 specimen tree is perhaps more akin to reverence than to 

 anything else. 



How much our lives are associated with trees! Many 

 of us can clearly recall and visualize certain old trees 

 which in early days held a peculiar charm for us. It 

 might have been an Oak tree with a crooked branch from 

 which was suspended the rope swing, or perhaps an old 

 Apple tree, the flowering of which marked the arrival of 

 Spring and the arrival of whose red-cheeked fruit was a 

 sure sign of Autumn. 



The charm of many a private estate or public park lies 

 not as much in the lavish garden of geometrical design, 

 or in terrace, pergola and statuary, as in the monarch 

 trees that have braved the storms of many years and still 

 stand out as living examples of what trees are intended to 

 be. The nurseryman whose business is growing trees by 

 the thousand shovild get out once in a while to see and 

 study the matured product of that which he is raising. 

 It will not only help him to realize better the importance 

 of his work, but will also give the right perspective and 

 dignity of the ideal : "Every tree a specimen." 



Now, while we are agreed that the raising of good 

 trees is a most important function of the nurseryman, of 

 equal importance too is the right care of the full grown 

 tree by the property owner. Unfortunately, in very many 

 cases little care or attention is given the trees after they 

 leave tlie nurseryman's hands. Congested growth is 

 allowed to accumulate, dead wood which is a sequence of 

 congestion, is permitted to remain and the health of the 

 tree is soon impaired by imoads of decay, insect pests 

 and fungoid disease. 



Then, too, the question of feeding trees is more often 

 than not overlooked. It does not occur to the majority 

 of property owners that their lawn or avenue trees stand 

 in need of added nutriment occasionally to ofTset the un- 

 natural conditions under which the trees are growing. In 

 their natural state trees obtain considerable nourishment 

 from fallen leaves and other vegetable matter which de- 

 compose and eventually this material becomes available 

 plant food. With trees on our lawns and avenues these 

 conditions arc reversed. Neatness is the password here 

 ancl while no apparent weakness is seen in the trees for 

 manv vears, a time comes when signs of deterioration 

 become very noticeable. Like a person with a "run- 

 down system" trees that are half-starved are more 

 susceptible to disease and are less able to stand up a.gainst 

 it when it strikes theiu. 



Lack of attention to the important details of correcting 



unl)alanced growths, removing duplicate leaders, and re- 

 lieving congested wood while the trees are young are the 

 ste]5s leading up to the point of general debility. Above 

 all. however, is the outstanding fact that many an old tree 

 has gradually been starved to death and no mechanical 

 skill of the tree surgeon will prolong its life for long 

 unless such work is supplemented by liberal supplies of 

 food at the roots. 



Trees like the Beech, Maple and Horse Chestnut, 

 whose roots are near the surface may be strengthened 

 by a top dressing of manure applied thickly over the 

 whole area, as represented by the spread of the tree's 

 branches. The snows and rains of Winter will carry the 

 nutriment into the soil to be available for the roots when 

 the period of activity comes around. Just when the tree 

 is most active a little nitrate of soda applied either in 

 water or sown over the ground during moist weather will 

 act as a stimulant and be conducive of vigorous growth. 

 In this way the tree is rejuvenated and by a careful prim- 

 ing, either by thinning out or shortening back of the 

 branches, a balance is restored between root and head. 



In the case of deep rooting trees like the Oak the sod 

 should be lifted and the fertilizer of rich manure which 

 is applied should be dug into the soil, keeping to the outer 

 zone of the tree's spread, since the young feeding roots 

 are those which are farthest from the trunk. The sod is 

 to be replaced, well watered and beaten firmly and evenly 

 into position. The returns for the labor of such operations 

 will be markedly apparent in a wealth of foliage and 

 in the added years of life to the tree. 



In conclusion, we should always be guided in the 

 amount of care and expense we give any tree by the 

 worth of the tree itself. Sometimes the pendulum swings 

 from no care at all to most extraordinary and frantic 

 effort to save a worthless tree. If a tree has a future 

 by all means try to save it but why spend good money on 

 trees which are mere apologies for desirable specimens 

 and which, at the most, have only a few years to live? 

 It is far better to end the struggle by taking them out 

 and replanting with young, thrifty specimens that radiate 

 health, that are pleasing to the sight and wdiich will 

 afford pleasure to future generations. — The Florists' Ex- 

 cliannr. 



"It has taken a world calamity, a catastrophe without 

 Iirecedent in history, to remind us of what we never 

 should have forgotten — that the farmer is carrying in his 

 strong arms the destinies of nations : that our welfare, 

 even our vcrv lives, cling closely to the results of his 

 work in the fields, gardens and orchards.'' 



