ORNAMENTAL SHADE TREES AND THEIR CARE 



417 



complications which frequently make 

 them very easy victims to a wide range 

 of injuries. Many, if not most, of the 

 injuries which lead to the death of street 

 trees can be prevented. They can only 

 be prevented, however, by proper mu- 

 nicipal control of the causes or agencies 

 w^hich produce the injury and a more ex- 

 tensive public-spirited effort to aid such 

 protection. 



It would be almost impossible in a 

 short space to enumerate the kinds of 

 mechanical injuries to which street trees 

 are subjected. Trees close to the curb- 

 ing are subject to abrasion by passing 

 vehicles, or abrasion may be caused by 

 the piling of flagstones or paving blocks 

 against the trees. I have seen this sort 

 of injury in cities with most efficient 

 city foresters and park superintendents. 

 If they are powerless to prevent such 

 injur}-, or overlook the matter, such cities still have 

 some progress to make in the care of their trees. 

 Horses when hitched to a tree close to the curbing 

 will almost invariably gnaw the bark. All of 

 these injuries, while more or less preventable, indi- 

 cate that absolute prevention may only be secured per- 

 haps by the use of iron palings around all trees upon 

 the curbing. 



T*^ 



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Courtesy of N. Y. State Conservation Commission. 



AN ATTRACTIVE ROW OF NORWAY MAPLES 

 This exemplifies the practical value of the Norway Maple, than which it would be hard to find a 



Careless telephone men, in spite of the definite orders 



Coucz-'iy r,j N. Y. Stale Conservation Commission. 



A MAGNIFICENT SPECIMEN OF THE AMERICAN ELM 



Most beautiful of all shade trees, in the opinion of many, and 



undoubtedly ideal for planting of broad streets and avenues. 



better tree for roadway or street planting. 



of all telephone companies to the contrary, frequently 

 use their climbing spurs in ascending trees. Important 

 roots are often cut off and destroyed by the laying of 

 curbs, gas and water pipes. 



All injuries of these kinds, as well as a wide 

 variety of other mechanical injuries to either trunks 

 or roots, result in the formation of decayed spots, 

 which if neglected will sooner or later shorten the life 

 of the tree. 



Escaping gas causes the death of many city trees, espe- 

 cially where the gas mains are laid under or close to the 

 sidewalks as they are in some cities. Even when the main 

 is under the pavement, the connecting extensions to the 

 dwellings on either side often become defective and the 

 gas escaping into the soil frequently causes the death 

 of surrounding trees before the leak is discovered and 

 repaired. Greater care in the use of better pipes and 

 better joints seems to be the only solution of this 

 sort of damage, which probably kills more city trees than 

 any other one agency. 



In wet weather or during storms, lighting wires, carrying 

 an alternating current, will cause serious damage to trees, 

 when the loss or abrasion of insulation makes direct contact 

 possible. This trouble is easily detected and easily remedied, 

 and in cities where any degree of care is taken of the 

 lighting installation serious injury to trees from this 

 cause is rare. High-tension, direct-current-bearing wires, 

 if brought into contact with trees, will kill them the same 

 as by a lightning bolt striking the tree. Hence such wires 

 should be most carefully insulated when near trees, and, 

 what is safer for both trees and human beings, placed 

 under ground. 



It seems absurd to class pruning among the injuri- 

 ous agencies of trees, but a casual inspection of the 

 trees in almost any city appears to indicate that care- 

 less and improper pruning has accomplished great dam- 

 age. There is a right and a wrong way to prune 

 trees, and a saw, an ax and a .little muscle are not all 

 the requirements for correct pruning of trees. When cut 



