TEEES 291 



focates it, and careless excavators shatter its 

 roots. It becomes an easy prey to insects and 

 an easy victim of disease. It requires atten- 

 tion, even some coddling, and unless attention 

 is given it, its health is not likely to be remark- 

 able. But it resents misdirected efforts in its 

 behalf as much as it resents the infliction of 

 damage due to less considerate motives. And 

 probably the most persistent source of disas- 

 ter is the ignorant laborer armed with pruning 

 shears and saw to whom reference has already 

 been made. Still he is not alone in the cate- 

 gory of tree-destroyers. In every tree-top we 

 can read the history of some great fight with 

 impending disaster. Leaf, flower, fruit, twig 

 and branch recite the story to those who know 

 the language, while, underground, other dis- 

 closures await the intelligent investigator. 

 Some of the enemies are natural but many of 

 them can be traced to man and man's civiliza- 

 tion. 



Insects come first. After these the most de- 

 structive agent is fire. Winds, lightning, ice, 

 drought and flood all cause damage; fungi at- 

 tack the wood ; wasteful lumbermen deplete the 

 forests and bacterial and constitutional dis- 

 eases lurk where least suspected. 



