FORESTER WHOSE FIELD IS THE CITY 



523 



the work must be carefully checked up. 

 The forester must, moreover, strive to 

 train his men by practical illustrations, 

 lectures, pamphlets and field instruction. 



Over 25,000 requests for attention 

 from individual citizens have been re- 

 ceived in Mr. Levison's office in tin- 

 last three years. These called for ad- 

 vice on all sorts of tree problems, and it 

 was the task of the forester to train 

 men to answer the less important ques- 

 tions and to look personally into the 

 others. The information given ranges 

 from identifying tree species, insects, 

 and diseases, to advising on treatment, 

 planting, and other operations. It is 

 furnished for use on home grounds as 

 well as for public trees. Frequently ad- 

 vice is given even to non-residents, by 

 mail. 



A map in the city forester's office 

 shows the location and condition of 

 every street tree. Other necessary rec- 

 ords include tree maps of the parks, 

 2,000 photographs, statistics of condi- 

 tions, a record of the treatment ap- 

 plied to every tree that has been brought 

 to the attention of the department, re- 

 ports, and similar details. 



PROMOTING PUP.LIC INTEREST 



Lectures are given before organiza- 

 tions ; before the people, under the 



auspice> of the board of education; be- 

 fore civic bodies in Xew York and 

 other cities ; before scientific bodies and 

 courses for teachers, and at local scien- 

 tific institutions. Over a hundred lec- 

 tures of this character have been given 

 in the last four years. 



Articles are prepared for gardening, 

 scientific, and popular magazines, for 

 newspapers, museum journals, and 

 school publications. More than forty 

 such articles have been written, and 150 

 interviews have been given out. 



Other educational work includes 

 teaching both children and adults by 

 means of labels placed on the trees in 

 the parks ; through addresses, messages, 

 and celebrations on Arbor Day; by the 

 publication of tree guides, and by the 

 formation of tree clubs. Special tree 

 labels were prepared and posted for the 

 1 tudson-Fulton celebration last summer. 



The widespread educational effects of 

 good work in caring for city trees will 

 extend, necessarily, beyond the city 

 limits and rouse an interest in economic 

 forestry, the aim of which is strictly 

 practical. For this reason the city for- 

 ester's task is more than the creation of 

 beauty. l>ut it is through the beauty he 

 achieves that the charm of the forest 

 is made to lay a firmer hold on urban 

 life. His w y ork is, therefore, of far- 

 reaching" civic value. 



