CENTRAL PARK TREES STARVING TO DEATH 



1397 



Now it has been the duty of officials of the Park 

 Department ever since it was organized to know these 

 things, to realize the handicaps with which the trees 

 have had to contend and to take measures to overcome 

 these handicaps. That this has not been done by the 

 Park Department officials in the past is evident by the 

 condition of the trees today and the difficulties with 

 which the present Park Department officials have to 

 contend. The trees would be in much better condition 

 had they been properly nourished. They should have 

 been carefully and skillfully fertilized, the shallow soil 

 could have been enriched year after year and if it had 

 been, the trees would have been hardier, stronger and 

 better able to withstand the rigors of the Garfield winter 

 as well as the climatic changes of the past few years. 



in its annual report for 1919, which said, "The New York 

 City parks bear very noticeable marks of the exceptionally 

 cold winter, 1917-1918. In the spring of 1918 it was 

 observed that many trees and plantations failed to put 

 forth their leaves, and as the season advanced it was 

 found that they had died either from the intensely cold 

 winter or from cold weather and weakened condition 

 due to disease. The great privet plantations along Park 

 Avenue, some of them fifteen years old, were practically 

 destroyed. The privet hedge around Claremont Inn on 

 Riverside Drive had to be cut back to within a foot of the 

 ground or entirely replaced. All over the city the privet 

 showed damage in various degrees and it is estimated 

 that the loss of this ornamental shrub alone amounted 

 to $75,000. 



A DYINC CATAI.PA 



This very large and picturesqut catalpa is ol'l 

 and the open situation, grass and exposure to 

 wind and sun is proving too much for it. It 

 uill probably last hut a few more years. 



A TYPICAL TULIP 



Note the small size of the leaves, the soil 

 packed around the base of the tree by the 

 visitors and the grass on all sides. The 

 foliage of a healthy tulip is much larger. 



A BLACK WALNUT 



Standing on the top of a steep rise, surrounded 

 with heavy grass sod and exposed to the full 

 sunlight and wind, the soil conditions for this 

 large American black walnut are very bad. 



Even the elms, now so pitiful in appearance, could 

 have been given such care, that they would have thrived 

 even under the adverse conditions which they had to 

 face. They have done well in other cities and in other 

 parks where the soil is just as shallow and where they 

 had many difficulties to overcome and they did well 

 use they were given plenty of individual attention. 



It is essential in park management that the Park 

 Commissioners and the City Forester should be absolutely 

 fnc from political influence and should be provided with 

 sufficient funds to do their work well. Political forestry 

 cannot be successful. 



Attention was given to the tree losses of the park by 

 the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society 



"Next to the privet the greatest sufferer was the plane 

 tree, or Oriental sycamore. This tree was particularly 

 free from pests and was planted in the belief that it would 

 be immune from winter killing. These trees were large- 

 ly in the streets where their loss is particularly grievous 

 as it is hard to make trees grow in New York streets 

 on account of pavement, gas leakage, damage by auto- 

 mobiles, etc. 



"Other trees which were killed included turkey oaks, 

 horse chestnuts and lindens. In Central Park there were 

 perhaps 400 turkey oaks, 5,000 lindens and 3,000 horse 

 chestnuts. These trees fell easy victims to the weather for 

 they had been defoliated and their vitality sapped for 

 three years in succession by the tussock moth. 



