DISEASES OF TREES LIKELY TO FOLLOW INJLTRIES. 157 



fancy. The speaker believed that we have need of oruamental trees 

 to promote the best moral and esthetic development of the people. 



Mr. Hadwen, in answer to an inquirj^, stated that the "Worcester 

 Park Commission consists of five members, each holding his office 

 five years. One member is elected ^ach year, and all serve 

 withont pay. Some members have been re-elected contiunouslj^ 

 for a long time, while others have served bnt one or two terms. 

 As a rnle thej'^ take a strong interest in their duties, which 

 include the planting and care of trees in streets, and the control 

 and direction in the management of the parks of the cit}', which 

 are now ten in number. They must be consulted if a building is 

 to be moved on any street ; and if au}- action of the street com- 

 missioners interferes with their department, the former must 

 respect the suggestions of the park commissioners. He said that 

 Ex-Governor Lincoln had a high regard for the trees in the streets, 

 and on one occasion, when he saw a stranger about to tie his horse 

 to a ti'ee, he remonstrated. The stranger said his business was 

 urgent and that he had no time to find different accommodations, 

 whereupon Mr. Lincoln proposed to hold the horse while its owner 

 was engaged, and he did so, thus preventing the injury to the 

 tree, which had been threatened. 



William C. Strong thought it was apparent that we ought all to 

 labor to get Park Commissions in our own towns. He then 

 asked the lecturer about washes for exposed places where branches 

 had been cut off, or accidental wounds made upon the stem of a 

 tree. He had used a compound of wax and alcohol, and inquired 

 if alcohol was injurious to the trees. 



Professor Farlow said that a mixture of grafting wax and 

 alcohol, so proportioned that upon its application the wax would 

 harden at once, he should consider good, and that the alcohol in 

 ■such a compound could not of itself be injurious. He recom- 

 mended pine tar, although some other preparations might serve the 

 purpose as well. 



Robert Manning considered tar poisonous to trees. His father 

 used a mixture of tar and red ochre, but his observation was that 

 it injured the trees — mostly pear — to which it was applied. For 

 his own use he pi'eferred a paint of linseed oil, which he believed 

 harmless and quite as serviceable as any other yet named. Yellow 

 ochre had proved very effectual in preserving the wood, but he 

 liked to have the paint as near the color of the bark as possible, 

 and used lead as a basis. 



