250 
The Garden Magazine, June, 1920 
Silver Maples and Elms suffer extensively — more so than Oaks 
and Sycamores. Very often the last named will escape while 
the Maples alongside them will be damaged. Unless injured 
branches are cut back to a point lower than the splintered wood, 
the wound will not heal readily. On old trees large limbs are 
often secured against possible loss bv bolts through the limbs and 
chains or wire cable connecting the bolts. This operation 
should be performed by a specialist, however, or more damage 
will be in evidence after a couple of years than if the tree were 
left alone. 
Wind damage to trees cannot be controlled, but many speci- 
mens contain forked branches that require precautions to guard 
against splitting down, with the possible tearing off of the entire 
side of the tree. But in placing chains around branches, caution 
should be taken to prevent girdling or injuring the bark. Rub- 
ber hose or wooden blocks that rest between the tree and the 
chain are necessities. And after they are placed in position 
they should be inspected often to ascertain to what extent they 
are protecting the bark from injury. Always allow slack chain 
sobranches mayswaywith thewind, instead of resisting it solidly; 
and remember that most of the successful bolting of trees is 
performed high up in the tree, rather than down to only a foot 
or more above the large crotches. 
W HERE it is necessary to place cement walks or tar pave- 
ments around trees, a space should always be left for the 
enlargement of the trunk of the tree; and never cut the roots off 
vigorous trees to make room for a straight sidewalk. Either 
go around or let the roots come up through. If the surface of 
the ground around a tree is covered with cement as in a roadway, 
drains and air holes should be left open not more than ten feet 
apart, so that water can reach the root system regularly. Cor- 
ner trees, or those located at the extreme edge of a roadway, or 
even in paths, should have protection at the base. Many trees 
are bruised by reckless driving and attempts to shorten the 
distance of the road, to the extent that cavities are formed in 
the trunk near the ground. A few stones placed partially in the 
ground at the base of the tree will protect from such injury and 
lesser bruises and when a tree stands in the centre of a roadway 
or at the country four corners it is good public spirit to deed a 
few square feet of space to the town and place a fence around it 
for the purpose of protecting it. 
Trash in the forks of branches and the accumulation of much 
rubbish, such as 
leaves, twigs, 
bark, and old 
bird’s nests, 
sooner or later 
starts to decay, 
forming a suitable 
place for breeding 
all sorts of insects 
and diseases. If a 
wound is present 
in the immediate 
vicinity of the 
crotch, especially 
in Maple trees, in- 
fection often oc- 
curs. As a pre- 
ventive all trash 
should be kept 
cleared away from 
crotches where 
branches leave the 
trunk. 
Wire fences and 
iron railings nailed 
to trees or placed 
against them 
sooner or later 
cause trouble. The bark tries to overgrow the wire and an 
opening right into the growing portion of the bark results, 
and allows insects and disease to enter. So it is good policy 
to keep iron fences and railings away from trees because of 
these cavities and the girdling; and the possibility of damage 
by lightning adds another reason for doing so. Electric 
and telephone wires are of course often necessarily placed 
through a tree canopy. In the case of telephone wires there is 
not much damage to the small branches but the high-tension 
wires used to convey electric power will often damage a tree 
beyond repair. The smallest leakage of current will injure 
Sugar Maple and 1 have known an entire row of these trees 
about thirty feet high, to be practically destroyed. 
Grading up near trees — filling in several feet of earth — will 
often smother the root system, and lowering the grade by taking 
soil away from the root system will expose it dangerously. In 
the former case it is advisable tolayawellofstoneorbrickaround 
the tree, and plow the original surface soil before adding the 
layer of earth. The plowing prevents the natural layer of soil 
at the old level which becomes the bottom of the fill, acting as a 
blanket against the passage of moisture, and the well prevents 
the new soil from shutting off the circulation of air around the 
trunk at the base of the tree. Where earth must be removed 
near a tree, it is advisable to allow a mound to remain out around 
the tree as far as the spread of its branches. The point is never 
to change the depth of the roots below the surface; and always 
to be careful that the bark is not in contact with the soil. In 
the case of small trees it is a great deal better to transplant 
them to conform with the grade rather than to have a mound or a 
tree well about them. 
Scanty feeding ground for a large tree often causes it to be- 
come weakened until it is easy prey to disease. If the soil lacks 
fertility, or if natural water supply cannot reach the roots, a 
system of deep irrigation should be employed, for surface water- 
ing compacts the soil and will not penetrate to the roots. The 
simple method of digging three or four holes three feet deep, 
placing a few stones in the bottom for drainage and an iron or 
earthen drain pipe erect upon these, to carry water from the sur- 
face down to the subsoil, will help a specimen tree to withstand 
a drought that might weaken it seriously. The earth must of 
course be filled in when stones and pipe are in place. 
The care of trees and their protection against insects, disease, 
and mechanical injury has gradually assumed proper import- 
ance. No longer 
need the valuable 
trees on the home 
grounds or on the 
street be left to 
decay and death 
for lack of scien- 
tific care. Men 
have been trained 
in the science and 
to the business of 
caring for trees, 
until this work is 
now a profession 
where methods 
are followed that 
represent years of 
investigation. To 
the expert with re- 
liable credentials, 
therefore, valua- 
ble trees should 
be entrusted, since 
he performs a ser- 
vice equally as 
exact in results as 
an architect’s or 
a doctor’s. 
THE BEAUTY OF SHADED STREETS IS A PRICELESS COMMUNITY ASSET 
Street trees are subjected to more trying circumstances and to more threatening 
conditions than others, and should therefore have the watchful care of everyone 
