800 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



trees and shook his head. Crawled on his hands and 

 knees under their low sweeping boughs to get inside; 

 peered up through their dim interior and shook his 

 head still more. Every time he did so those great gold 

 ear-rings waved and blinked in the sunlight like a section 

 of the jewel tower at the Frisco fair. 



"With him was a young chap to whom he occasionally 

 confided a few thoughts in their own language. I began 

 to feel uncomfortable, as if I had perpetrated some out- 

 rage against them both, and that the outrage had some- 

 thing to do with the way those trees had been pruned. 

 Nor was my judgment wrong. In his experienced eyes 

 a gross outrage had been committed upon every tree in 

 the whole grove. He was arrayed in a sky blue suit of 

 clothes, a stiff linen collar at least three and one-half 

 inches high encircled his short brown neck and a bril- 

 liant red four-in-hand tie lit up his front like an Arizona 

 sunset. It was a very hot day, the trees were dusty 

 from the long rainless spell, and when he finally emerged 

 from his last inspection he looked somewhat the worse 

 for wear. His collar was wilted to a rag, that sky blue 

 creation with trousers that measured more across the 

 seat than they did in length peg tops of the most exag- 

 gerated type a favorite cut of his class, was dusty and 

 laced with cobwebs. He mopped his rosy face with a 

 pink handkerchief that after the operation reminded 

 you of the print shop roller towel. Breathlessly I waited 

 for his verdict. 



" 'You trees bad shape,' he blurted out, just like that, 

 as if to give me the worst right at the beginning. 'Looka 

 like some wood choppa man done da prune.' He waved 

 his arms towards the lemons. 'He nicea looka trees for 

 park, mabbeso, but no gooda for fruits. 'Dat tree,' and 

 he picked out one of the most shapely in the lot 'dat 



tree take one gooda man four hour to prune right, maybe 

 so do four tree one day dat a gooda work.' 



"I did some mental figuring. Four trees divided into 

 $3.50 meant almost 90 cents a tree, there are 80 trees 

 to the acre $72 an acre for pruning. I hoped my man 

 had not heard the time limit set by the gentleman with 

 the ear-rings. I sighed. Experience surely did cost 

 money. Nevertheless my blood was up and I made a 

 bargain for three men to come the next morning and 

 start the work. I didn't get down to the grove until 

 about three o'clock the next day. The rows of lemons 

 were the first trees in the grove to strike the eye as you 

 alighted from the trolley. I glanced towards the place. 

 The sky line seemed to have a strange, unnatural ap- 

 pearance. The first rows of trees looked as if a cyclone 

 had struck them. They stood rough and gaunt, their 

 denuded limbs holding their mangled stumps toward 

 Heaven, as if in mute appeal against such an outrage 

 as seemed to have been prepetrated upon them. On the 

 ground there was apparently more wood than in the 

 trees. In fact, about some of them the limbs made a 

 pile quite as high as the trees themselves. 



"Now pruning to me had always meant a gentle lady- 

 like clipping of tips here and there, a sort of polite tree 

 manicuring if you please. This work had apparently 

 been done with a ruthless hand almost heroic in its 

 treatment. But I had determined to go the limit on the 

 reconstruction of my grove and if this was the proper 

 way to do the job I would make no outcry. 



"Time however, justified the treatment. My Corsican 

 friend and his fellow conspirators knew their business. 

 Next year those trees will bear fruit on every limb where 

 none has been borne before, for the trees have produced 

 new wood so fast you can almost see it grow ; fruit bear- 

 ing wood of the best kind." 



NEXT SEASON AT GLACIER 

 CECRETARY of the Interior Lane announces that 

 ^ the enterprises engaged in the accommodation and 

 entertainment of tourists at Glacier Park have already 

 completed arrangements for the 191 9 season, which be- 

 gins June 15 and ends September 15. All hotels and 

 chalets will be open and there will be adequate transpor- 

 tation facilities on the road and trail systems. The 

 usual rates for service will prevail. 



The National Park Service plans to make many new 

 trips available for Glacier Park visitors next summer. In 

 this connection,, a new trail across the Continental Divide 

 through Logan Pass, connecting the St. Mary Lake 

 region with Granite Park and Lake McDonald, is worthy 

 of special mention, as it promises to be an exceptionally 

 popular feature in a successful after-the-war season. 



PHILIPPINE FORESTERS ARE PATRIOTIC 



THIS IS THE FLOAT 07 THE BUREAU OF FORESTRY IIC THE 

 FOURTH LIBERTY LOAN PARADE OH OCTOBER 12, lilt, AT 

 FAR-AWAY MANILA. 



A FOREST FIRE IS A REAL ENEMY 



Carelessness causes many fires." Are you care- 

 less? Never leave your camp fire without making 

 sure it is completely out. We won the war to defend 

 Democracy. Must we now fight forest fires? Are you 

 careful with fire in the forest? Burning matches 

 cause fires. Break your match in two before throw- 

 ing it away. If you discover a forest fire, put it out. 



