April, 1912 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS XXV 
THE PROPER CARE OF SHADE 
TREES IN CITIES AND TOWNS 
By ISAAC MOTES 
HE man with even an elementary 
knowledge of forestry is often filled 
with indignaticn while walking the streets 
of cities and towns, when he sees beau- 
tiful shade trees being tortured to death 
by slow degrees. ven city foresters, 
who ought to know better, seldom give 
their trees ideal conditions for growth, 
though this must surely be because, with so 
many to look after, such an extent of city 
streets, parkways and parks to care for, 
they haven’t the time which they need to 
deyote to the trees. This is all the more to 
be regretted, because with plenty of water 
for sprinkling trees will grow better than 
in the forest, for it is lack of moisture 
more than lack of a rich soil, which causes 
a tree to languish. It is sad to see a tree 
starved for lack of moisture, or murdered 
by being crowded too closely between the 
edge of the sidewalk and the curbstone. 
Not only should the trunk of the tree not 
be crowded, but there should be a strip 
wide enough to make sure of the tree’s 
getting enough water where it stands in 
locations which make it impossible to 
sprinkle. And this strip should be level, 
and be kept always loose and loamy. 
It is certainly a reflection upon the city 
forester, or the owner of a fine residence 
block in city or town, that trees are more 
graceful and healthy in natural groves than 
in yards and parks and along city streets. 
It is safe to say that at least one-fifth of 
the trees you see along the streets of a 
city are defective in some particular. They 
have rotten, deformed trunks, or they have 
scars where they have been wired to stakes, 
or else trees which require but little mois- 
ture have received too much, and this has 
caused a fungus growth upon their trunks, 
or a watery, spongy rot to attack the heart 
of the tree, and when this is the case with 
any tree it is doomed, though it may suc- 
ceed in living on for perhaps a dozen years. 
The tree planter should know the nature 
especially of every tree he sets out near 
the sidewalk. He should look ahead and be 
able to tell how much room the tree will 
need twenty, thirty, forty or fifty years 
hence. 
He should know how long the tree may 
be reasonably expected to live, and how 
large its trunk will be at that time, for 
some trees live for centuries, and grow 
until the year of their death, while others 
live only thirty, forty or fifty years, and 
stop growing years before they die. If a 
long-lived tree, one which grows large and 
tall, there should be plenty of room for the 
trunk to increase in size, and for moisture 
to soak into the ground around it. If the 
space between the outer edge of the side- 
walk and the curbstone is narrow a segment 
of the sidewalk should be left out, its width 
depending upon the character of the tree 
and the probable size to which it will grow 
There should be no grass around young 
trees, but rather a circle of bare, level 
earth, to enable trees to drink in all the 
moisture they can, in order to form a good 
root growth, but later, after the trees get 
larger, this bare place may be allowed to 
grow up in grass, especially if the tree 
stands upon level ground. If on a hilside, 
and the tree is a moisture demanding one, 
like the cottonwood, boxelder, black walnut 
or catalpa, the turf around it should be 
kept somewhat loosened by sticking a 
slender, sharp pointed pick into the earth 
and prying it up slightly, but not enough to 
kill the grass, thus enabling more moisture 
to soak into the ground. 
Sound Living 
Tree has a money as 
well as a_ sentimental 
value, therefore it is too 
precious to neglect. 
The Davey Tree Experts 
Do 
a class of work accomplished by no other set of 
men—they succeed where others fail. 
If you are the owner of an estate, a country or 
city house with trees, we want you to write for 
our book, which is interesting and valuable to you 
—it tells the fascinating story of John Davey, 
Father of Tree Surgery—what he accomplished— 
the institute he founded, and how the Davey 
Tree Experts are saving trees and money for 
property owners. 
Don’t let any man touch a tree on your place 
unless he shows you credentials proving him quali- 
fied to perform the work. 
All graduates from the “Davey Institute of Tree 
Surgery” carry such testimony, and are em- 
ployed by the Davey Tree Expert Company— 
WE NEVER LET GOOD MEN GO. 
An early writing for our book is advised, be- 
cause “Procrastination is the Thief of Trees” 
Be sure to mention the number of trees 
you own, and their species. Address, 
THE DAVEY TREE EXPERT 
COMPANY, Inc. 
230 Filbert St. Kent, O. 
Branch Offices: New York, N. Y., 
Chicago, Ill., Toronto, Can. 
Canadian Address: 630 
Conf. Life Building 
Toronto, Ontario 
Representatives 
Available 
Every- 
where 
DAVEY TREE 
EXPERT WORK 
G ONTHE 
JOHN DAVEY CAPITOL GROUNDS 
Father of Tree Surgery WASHINGTON DC 
COPYRIGHT 1912 
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