10 



EXPERIMENT STATION WORK, LI. 



The cutting away of branches in order to make an unobstructed road for 

 the moving of a building along a highway is frequently seen. * * * Ad- 

 jacent property owners * * * should obtain from the court an injunction, 

 by means of which the work could be delayed until a judgment may be given. 



The regrading, widening, and general improvement of highways cause an- 

 nually the unnecessary loss of many beautiful park and avenue trees. Often, 

 with no intelligent person to direct this part of the work, large numbers of 

 trees are removed which could well have remained. Because a street has been 

 widened, and a valuable tree stands where it may inconvenience traffic a little 

 in the new arrangement, is not sufficient justification for its removal. In such 

 Instances, the situation should be carefully investigated and the evidence- on 

 both sides considered. The sentiments associated with old landmarks are 

 often too strong to be considered as trifling. The tree to be removed may be 

 so valuable a factor in the esthetic life of the community that the inconvenience 

 of going around it will never be great enough to warrant its removal. 



In regrading lawn areas it sometimes becomes necessary to make deep cuts 

 or large fills about the bases of trees, which would cause their death were they 

 not properly protected. In general, when cuts or fills average between 1 foot 

 and 3 feet in depth, the tree may be preserved by leaving a mound for cuts; 

 or, in the case of fills by building a well around the trunk to keep the soil from 

 the bark (see fig. 2). Trees injured as a result of removing soil from the base 



die because the roots dry 

 out, while those injured 

 from fills die because the 

 soil packed around the trunk 

 suffocates that part of the 

 tree, kills the small feed 

 roots, and rots the bark. 

 A few of the very hardy 

 species of trees will survive 

 such conditions of fill, while 

 others are very susceptible to 

 its ill effects. 



Trees with brittle wood, as well as broad-headed, vase- formed 

 trees, are often seriously injured by wind and ice storms. " Protec- 

 tion can be given best only by a correct selection of deciduous trees, 

 and by keeping from conifers the heavy loads of snow, which break 

 the branches during the winter." All dead wood should be removed, 

 both for the sake of appearance and because it is a source of danger 

 to the public. 



Trees are often injured, and sometimes killed, from the effects of 

 freezing. 



The greatest danger from freezing lies not in the fact that many trees in a 

 normal condition of growth are killed back, but rather that improper pruning 

 and unprotected wounds cause cavities to appear on the trunk and larger 

 branches; these fill with water during the summer months, and during the 

 winter months the ice formed in them splits seams up and down these parts 

 of a tree (see fig. 3). These seams or cracks, small at first, close during the 

 first summer, but during the succeeding winter are again subjected to freezing 



around trees. 



