FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 65 



the trunk through the wound. It was also suppressed by the shade of larger trees 

 surrounding it. Several Pines in the park were found to be suffering from this 

 latter cause. The other tree examined was dead. The roots, to the distance of 

 four or five feet from the tree, had been attacked by fungi, which also had 

 ascended the trunk for about two feet. The tree had also been much damaged 

 by borers and bark beetles. I examined a large number of trees in the park and 

 judged that disease among them was very largely due to insects and fungi. 



The trees were being pruned at the time of my visit, the branches being 

 chopped off at a distance of from three to six inches from the trunk, and fresh 

 stable manure was being placed around the roots. 



I would suggest that all old, rotting logs, all dead trees, and all dying trees 

 beyond hope of recovery, be removed from the park, as this dead material 

 furnishes excellent breeding-places for insects, and gives food for fungi, which 

 also attack the living trees. 



The trees should be trimmed with a saw and the branches should be cut close 

 to the trunk. Spores of fungi, which will cause the tree to decay, find a good 

 lodging place on a ragged cut, such as is made with a dull axe. If the branch is 

 sawed off even with the trunk of the tree the new wood will grow over the 

 wound, while no such healing will take place if it is cut leaving a stub. The 

 wound should be covered with lead paint. This will exclude bacteria and fungi 

 and check the weathering without injuring the cambium and bark. March is 

 perhaps the best month for pruning, although the season is not so important as 

 the manner in which the work is done. 



I would suggest that wood ashes be used as a fertilizer. Stable manure con- 

 tains beetles and fungi and brings them with it to the soil where it is applied, 

 while these are destroyed by the ashes. Moreover, wood ashes contain all the 

 elements that trees take from the soil, and hence are an ideal fertilizer. 



A suppressed tree should be either relieved or removed. If, on account of its 



species, or for any other reason, it is a more desirable tree than the others that 



shade it, it should be relieved by the removal of one or more of the latter. 



Otherwise it should be cut. a s it hinders the growth and symmetrical development 



of its neighbors. 



Very respectfully, 



Abraham Knechtel, 



Forester. 



