CHAPTER VII 



INJURIES TO SHADE-TREES AND HOW TO 

 PROTECT THEM 



Even in the forest the enemies of trees are very many. 

 Winds break their limbs, snow and ice maim and deform 

 them, hail beats off their leaves and twigs, frost nips their 

 buds and tender shoots, lightning shatters them, and fungi 

 and insects prey upon them. Added to natural enemies, the 

 unfavorable city conditions make the life of a street-tree 

 a hard one. 



The intelligent planting of trees must be supplemented 

 by their protection, both by personal and legal means. It is 

 idle to plant trees unless their safety can be assured. The 

 vast majority of people have no conception that a tree has 

 any right to be respected, just as they are slow of compre- 

 hension where the rights of animals are in question, or the 

 right of posterity to what we now enjoy. 



There is another point to be remembered in dealing with 

 trees ; that while they are living objects, and in their modes 

 of growth and reproduction greatly resemble animals, they 

 do not possess the power of locomotion. If a man dislikes 

 his environment, he moves to a more congenial place. 

 A tree cannot move, and its surroundings must be made 

 agreeable to its well being. The writer has often thought of 

 what would happen if trees could run away from the place 

 where they are maltreated and abused. Many people would 



136 



