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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 



Q. I am much interested in the question of the saving 

 of the white pines, and in this connection I wish to take advan- 

 tage of the offer, extended in your magazine, to answer help- 

 fully any questions about trees. I own a good many acres of 

 woodland on the shore of Sunapee Lake, and during the last 

 few years have noticed at times a peculiar condition of some 

 of the pines. About three years ago, and again in the spring 

 of 1916, I noticed that some of the pines had tufts of brown 

 needles at the extremity of the branches. At first only a few of 

 the trees were so affected, but last year there were a good 

 many more. In the one or two years between, I did not notice 

 this condition. Is this the result of what you are now calling 

 the white pine blister disease? I did not notice anything unusual 

 on the trunks, and the main part of the tree did not seem to be 

 injured. Nothing was noticeable except this dying of the tips. 

 If it is not the disease in question will you tell me what it is, and 

 whether it is harmful to the trees, and what should be done 

 about it. A . D., IVellesley, Massachusetts. 



A. With relation to the condition of your pines, I do not be- 

 lieve that it is caused by the pine blister disease. Very likely it is 

 simply due to a condition of drought which varies with the 

 year and the season. There has been much of this during the 

 past few years all over the East. There have also been of recent 

 years several pests that worked principally in the terminal shoots 

 of certain species of pine. We had the white pine weevil, destroy- 

 ing the leaders and tips of white pine trees, and the pine shoot 

 moth, attacking Scotch and other pines. Just what your trouble 

 is can best be told by submitting to us a sample of the affected 

 branch and letting us examine it. 



Q. We have a suburban home place and would like your 

 advice about the best trees and shrubbery to plant. We have 

 two catalpas, a hedge and some miscellaneous bushes and some 

 fruit trees that are not doing much. I want to plant some hardy- 

 shrubbery and also some trees that will produce good fruit in 

 our climate. 



A. J. N., Kansas City, Missouri. 



A. 1 am glad to send your the best advice and suggestions 

 I can as to planting for the improvement of your place. The 

 best varieties of apples for your use would be Red Astrachan, 

 Mcintosh, Baldwin or Rhode Island Greening. The best pears 

 are Bartlett and Sheldon. The best peaches would be Champion 

 and Elbert, and the best varieties of cherry, Early Richmond and 

 Montmorency. 



For shrubbery, I would suggest forsythia, weighela, Califor- 

 nia privet, Aralia pentaphylla, Cornus siberica, Rosa rugosa, Rose 

 of Sharon, lilacs, hydrangea, Regel's privet, Symphoricarpos 

 racemosus and Symphoricarpos vulgaris. In the January issue 

 of American Forestry you will find an article on hedge planting 

 and cultivation. 



Q. Can you tell me what is the matter with the tree of 

 which I send you a specimen leaf, under separate cover? 



E. H. K., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 



A. The leaf of aspidistra received proves to be severely 

 infested with the Florida red scale (Chnjsomphalus ficus Ashm.). 

 Remedies recommended for use against this insect are described 

 in the enclosed circular. 



Q. Will you please explain the difference in the Red Gum 

 and the Sweet Gum? 



R. J. M., Chclyan, West Virginia. 



A. There is no difference between the Red Gum and the 

 Sweet Gum. They are one and the same tree, also called Liquid- 



anibar, meaning liquid gum, referring to the sweetish, fluid, 

 gummy exudations. The Black, or Sour Gum, sometimes called 

 Tupelo, is an entirely different tree. I enclose an article from 

 the November issue of our monthly magazine, American For- 

 estry, covering fully the identification and characteristics and 

 commercial uses of Red Gum. I think you will find this inter- 

 esting and valuable. 



Q. Will you please tell me what to do for a tulip tree that, 

 has some kind of a scale. They come on the branches and on 

 the new wood. They are dark brown, shaped like an oyster. 

 When you crush the shell, they are pink and like thick milk and 

 honey. In the spring the young ones are white and look like a 

 bed-bug and can crawl. 



H. R. T., Sands Point, New York. 



A. The scale is the tulip scale and very commonly infests 

 tulip trees in your vicinity. The best way to eradicate the pest 

 is to brush off the scale insects with a coarse hair brush and 

 then wash the infested branches with a solution of soap and 

 water or kerosene emulsion, one part to ten parts of water. 

 Before brushing the scales off, it is advisable to spread some can- 

 vas or paper on the ground in order to collect the insects and 

 burn them afterwards. This work should be done immediately 

 and the trees watched again next summer for a second crop of the 

 insects. Within about a year, the pest can be permanently 

 eradicated. 



Q. Is Thuja plicata the correct name of Western Red Cedar? 

 And will you give me the common and technical names of the 

 Southern pines? 



R. C. F., Flushing, New York. 



A. Yes, Thuja plicata is the correct technical name for 

 Western Red Cedar. The correct common and technical names 

 of the Southern pines are as follows : Pinus palustris, known as 

 Long-leaf Pine, or Georgia pine ; Pinus echinata, or Short-leaf 

 Pine, Yellow pine ; Pinus Tada, the classical Latin name for pitch 

 pine, which was used for torches ; Pinus caribaa, or slash or 

 Cuban Pine. 



Q. I wish to obtain your opinion relative to the practice, 

 now so common, of scraping the outer bark from our shade 

 trees for the purpose of removing scale and other insects, and 

 furnishing no places for their concealment. Many of our most 

 beautiful shade trees, generally elms, have been given this treat- 

 ment and occasionally the trunk is afterwards painted with some 

 insecticide. All this operation entails great expense to the tree 

 owner. Personally I have been opposed to this treatment of trees, 

 but I would appreciate a discussion from you on the subject. 



W. W. M., Chicago, Illinois. 



A. There is no justification for the practice of scraping the 

 bark of shade trees. It does no good and sometimes does harm 

 and many varieties of shade trees, such as Norway maples, 

 Oriental planes, etc., very seldom have any scale insects on their 

 trunks. If you spray the infested trees with oil solution at the 

 proper time, especially when the young scale insects hatch and 

 become active, you will generally catch most of the insects, no 

 matter where they are under the loose bark or on top of it. 

 Scraping off the old bark exposes very suddenly the young, tender 

 bark underneath to sun, heat and dust and smoke, and produces 

 better bait for scale insects than the old bark because scale 

 insects prefer to live on young, tender bark. We think that if 

 you would allow nature to take care of the loose, superfluous bark 

 and not scrape it off prematurely, the trees would be better off. 



