TREES WITH AN EDUCATION 63 



tree in somebody's front yard with a great ugly 

 cavity eating into its vitals. The owners are sym- 

 pathetic but passive. 



"Isn't it too bad?" they say. "I suppose we shall 

 have to chop it down before long." 



Sometimes it would seem that human life has 

 become so sacred that the lives of fellow animal and 

 vegetable organisms have become of less account 

 by comparison. The owners of a sick tree are quick 

 enough to repair a hole in their piazza, but are either 

 unaware of or indifferent to the fact that a little 

 cement and a skilled hand can close up the ugly 

 tree-wound and add many years to the invalid's 

 life. 



Old trees are often allowed to perish unneces- 

 sarily when a little judicious pruning might have 

 prolonged life for a century or two. Death usu- 

 ally comes from a gradual failing of vigour due 

 to insufficient nourishment or to internal decay. 

 Withering of the top branches is the first sign. 

 Health can be restored by shortening all branches 

 one-third or one-half, which insures a greater and 

 more vigorous leaf surface. 



Trees suffer from many diseases which man can 

 alleviate. The fact that many oaks, chestnuts and 

 beeches live to be two hundred years of age, while 

 fortunate specimens survive a thousand years, in- 



