PLANTING AND CARE OF TREES 



127 



the free passage of the wires overhead, the companies should be 

 required to adopt the underground system. If it should be 

 necessary to run a line through street trees the company should be 

 required to protect such trees from abrasion. 



Electric linemen are not the only offenders, but much damage 

 has been done by building contractors in the use of trees as 

 anchors for guy wires. A wire tightly wound around a tree soon 

 interferes with the circulation of sap. (See fig. 53). If trees 

 must be used for this purpose, care should be observed in protect- 

 ing them from injury by the use of wooden strips, as shown in 

 figure 53. 



Fig. 



53. The right and wrong- methods of attaching guy wires. 



Injuries From Regrading Streets — AYorkmen engaged in 

 repairing, widening, or regrading streets often destroy valuable 

 trees without regard to the effect upon the appearance of the street. 

 This reckless destruction of trees is usually unnecessary. If a 

 street should be widened to such an extent that a few trees are 

 likely to stand in the roadway it is not always necessary that 

 they should be removed. It is sometimes practicable to project 

 the curbing at intervals so as to protect the trees, or it may be 

 advisable to construct a curbing around a tree and allow the 

 traffic to pass on either side. 



In the changing of grade on city streets and country roads 

 many trees are sacrificed that might be saved by exercising a little 

 care. If soil is removed around the base of a tree the roots dry 

 out and if the soil is filled in around the trunk, to the 

 depth of a foot or more, the roots are deprived of air and the 

 bark is injured by coming in contact with the soil. A^Tiere the 

 grade is lowered it is possible oftentimes to leave a mound of 



