24 J. H. MAIDEN. 



a particular block of land in view. Trees in a public park 

 must have their lower branches removed or children will 

 break them down, and improper characters will use 

 them as places of concealment. In a private park we see 

 noble specimens of trees, some of them with branches close 

 to the ground. When for public-park purposes we prune 

 them we not only seriously detract from their beauty, but 

 in the case of some trees, particularly Conifers, we inflict 

 great injury upon them from a physiological point of view. 

 Trees often require a little judicious pruning, either because 

 of accidents to branches, or to prevent branches becoming 

 unduly heavy and tearing themselves away during winds 

 or by their sheer weight. Then we require special pre- 

 cautions in regard to the clanger from trees in a public 

 park, particularly in those used by large numbers of people. 

 Just as a man periodically taps the wheel of a railway 

 train to detect a flaw, if any, so it is the duty of a park 

 officer to frequently inspect his trees to see if any of them 

 present symptoms which will cause them to be dangerous 

 to the public. Are they getting top-heavy? Are the 

 branches or the trunks becoming unsound ? The pruner 

 and the axeman must be ever on the alert, especially as, 

 with all our care, trees sometimes fall without warning. 

 In such cases examination of the roots or inner portion of 

 the trunk reveals insidious disease caused either by micro- 

 fungi or by insect pests. 



The chief time of anxiety from falling trees is during a 

 period of heavy rain accompanied by strong winds. The 

 ground becomes sodden and holds the roots with difficulty, 

 while the more umbrageous the tree the less able is it to 

 withstand the strongest blast of a gale. And it is some- 

 times one blast that does the mischief. The climbing of 

 trees by boys is a very serious cause of their injury, and 

 even destruction. If a boy intends to climb a tree one 

 cannot, in practice, prevent him, but he can be hindered by 



