CARE OF OLD TREES 



The charm of many an estate is not the garden or 

 the woodland, but the monarchs that for years have 

 weathered the winter storm and stand out as noble 

 specimens of their family. The trees may have some 

 historic associations, but whether this is so or not, 

 when they begin to decay efforts are made to save 

 them from absolute death. Decay is harmful and 

 objectionable in park and garden, and we are not 

 sure that this matter of decay in trees has been 

 so well considered as it might be, as bearing upon 

 the health of other trees and of mankind also. A 

 tree may be picturesque in decay, but we prefer it 

 in health and beauty. Experts are frequently asked 

 for remedies to arrest decay in old trees. 



The two principal causes of decay are starvation 

 at the root and injury by storms and disease. Such 

 trees as the Beech and Horse Chestnut, that root 

 close to the surface of the soil — quite different to 

 the Oak — may often be invigorated by covering the 

 ground with a few inches of good soil or short 

 manure. Artificial watering, during prolonged 

 drought, when thoroughly done, is also very helpful 

 to the tree. Trees with large crowns of branches 

 are frequently seen thinly furnished with foliage, and 

 altogether sickly owing to unhealthy or insufficient 



