TREES FOR MEMORIALS 



781 



WITH TREES FOR A BACKGROUND 



The trees about the famed Bartholdi Fountain in the Botanical Garden at Washington prove without shadow of a doubt that trees are the proper 



setting for any memorial. 



Farm and Garden Association with headquarters in 

 New York City. Everyone sees the coming of the city 

 beautiful in plans for memorials. The tree will have a 

 prominent place in such plans and presents an oppor- 

 tunity for a growing interest in the beauties of forestry. 

 In this work the members of the American Forestry 

 Association have a big part the great opportunity in 

 fact to interest every organization to which they belong 

 in the value of forestry in general. We all know the 



devastation in France that has been pictured to us during 

 the war. The authorities agree that the forests of France 

 kept the Hun from reaching Paris. That should be a 

 great lesson to any country. In our trees lie a great 

 strength ; in memorial trees in honor of our soldiers and 

 sailors, whether they lost their lives or not, is a great 

 object lesson as well as a lasting and fitting memorial 

 to those who fought against autocracy. 



CARE FOR THE BIRDS IN WINTER 



T^HE American City publishes an interesting letter 

 * from Ernst Strehle, Park Superintendent of St. 

 Louis, in which he says that a systematic effort 

 has been made to care for their native birds during the 

 winter for the past two years. Continuing Mr. Strehle 

 says: 



"So successful has the experiment proved, that we ex- 

 pect to extend the work to all St. Louis parks this winter. 



"Feeding stations were established at numerous places 

 throughout the park, and the work of feeding was turned 

 over to one of the employes of the park, who had pre- 

 viously received the proper instructions as to procedure 

 The food consisted of grains and other seeds, bread and 

 meat, the total amount of food used being about 200 

 pounds per week throughout the entire winter. 



"The following approximate number of birds were 

 regular guests at the feeding stations : Two hundred quail, 

 50 blue jays, 100 red-headed woodpeckers, 30 three-toed 

 woodpeckers, 100 flickers, 30 winter wrens, 70 brown 

 creepers, 30 red-breasted nuthatches, 150 black-capped 

 chicadees and 30 red birds. Several hundred gray squir- 

 rels also took advantage of this opportunity to get food 

 easily. 



"About 700 bird boxes, made by the children of the 

 manual training classes of the St. Louis public schools, 

 were distributed and hung in the various parks, under 



the supervision of the Park Superintendent, often in the 

 presence of the children who made them. These boxes 

 were made according to the specifications issued by the 

 United States Biological Survey. 



"No one can accurately estimate the value of this 

 work, but there can be no doubt that if these birds had 

 not been fed and protected in this way the unusual 

 severity of last winter would have forced them to migrate 

 further south or would have killed them outright. Their 

 loss to Forest Park would have been serious, as they are 

 of considerable value in checking the development of in- 

 sect life in the park, to say nothing of the pleasure they 

 give to the persons who visit the park during the winter. 



"The woodpeckers, for example, or the creepers and 

 nuthatches, whose food in winter consists largely of 

 eggs, pupae and larvae of insects which hibernate in the 

 bark and wood of trees, will demonstrate in a very short 

 time to anyone who will stop to watch them why it is 

 worth while to induce them to remain in a climate other- 

 wise too severe for them. The red bird, and many others 

 likewise, ordinarily seek a sheltered ravine in the deep 

 woods, and seldom winter in the city unless specially in- 

 duced to stay. With the possible exception of the blue jay, 

 all the birds mentioned have a decided economic value 

 that is many times greater than the cost of feeding and 

 caring for them during the severest winter." 



