FILLING TREES 93 



the soil. Money spent on the soil is rarely 

 wasted. If it does not save the old trees, it will 

 at least give their young successors a good start 

 in life. If the trees survive and adjust them- 

 selves to the new environment, the ones that re- 

 quire it can safely be filled or otherwise repaired. 



The fourth rule is scarcely more than a special 

 case under the last. A tree which has just under- 

 gone a distinct change of surroundings should not 

 be filled. Such a change-^might be, for instance, 

 the building of a house very near to the tree, with 

 the resultant cutting of roots and branches, or the 

 simultaneous removal of a number of close 

 neighbors, or the installation of a drainage sys- 

 tem. A number of years should be allowed to 

 elapse in such cases, before the tree is filled, in 

 case it contains a large cavity. Filling, which 

 can in no way help the tree to meet the new con- 

 ditions, should be deferred until it is certain that 

 the tree will survive the change of environment. 



Expensive cavity work should not be put into a 

 tree unless the other needs of the trees have been, 

 and are going to be, attended to. If a man is 

 starving to death it does not lessen his misery to 

 reflect that his bones are strong enough to sup- 

 port a fat man. Decaying trees can survive with- 

 out fillings — even flourish without them — but 

 no tree can long survive or flourish without food 

 and water and protection from its insect enemies. 



