PREFACE 
THis volume is an accident, as it were, so far as its 
authorship goes. ‘The author being a forester by profession, 
and, therefore, concerned with the utilitarian use of trees 
rather than with their ornamental employment, the subject- 
matter of this volume might be considered foreign to his 
training. A forester, however, must be familiar with tree 
life in all its phases, so as to have judgment regarding the 
requirements of trees in health and disease and the proper 
care of them under all circumstances. Nevertheless, it was 
only an accident that induced the writer to devote time to 
the compilation of the present volume. A request by a tree 
owner for expert advice in the care of his lawn trees dis- 
closed the fact that apparently no satisfactory, compre- 
hensive treatment of the subject for amateur planters of 
trees was in existence, whatever might be said of the liter- 
ature for specialists. ‘This induced the writer to attempt to 
set down, as briefly as possible, what every tree owner should 
know of the care of trees. 
The fact that the writer had for many years lived in 
Washington, D. C., and had taken a special interest in 
studying the composition of its many parks — indeed being 
for some time in charge of Soldiers’ Home Park, also acting 
on a commission on the reconstruction of Central Park, 
New York — these experiences with ornamental tree-growth 
may entitle him to claim the necessary judgment in selecting 
from the vast amount of information that exists on this 
Vu 
