142 
organizing by the score. A wonderful op- 
portunity is presented to every cemetery 
superintendent in the United States and 
Canada to join the Association of Amer- 
ican Cemetery Superintendents and obtain 
the increased benefits that are bound to 
follow. Non-members should forward 
their applications before the Barre conven- 
tion to Secretary Wm. Jones, Highwood 
Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Fa. 
Detailed information of all kinds can 
be had from Alexander Hanton, secretary 
of the Barre Entertainment Association, 
Barre, Vt. 
ON TO BARRE. 
Transportation arrangements for the 
Barre convention are practically con- 
cluded, and efforts are being made to con- 
centrate superintendents at various points 
for the final ride to Barre. Chicago, Buf- 
falo, New York and Boston will be the 
gathering points according to present 
The 
Although many different tree workers 
claim to have originated the filling of cav- 
ities in trees, this is in reality a very old 
practice. However, in recent years it has 
received more attention than formerly, and 
at the present time a great deal of work 
is being done along this line. Some prog- 
ress has been made in the technique of the 
work, although less than one would nat- 
urally expect, and the fundamental princi- 
ples underlying the proper treatment of 
cavities are still constantly being violated. 
This is true to an even greater degree of 
other branches of tree work, especially 
those involving considerable mechanical 
and engineering knowledge. 
One of the most unfortunate drawbacks 
to intelligent tree work has been the prev- 
alence of “fakers” and ignorant men claim- 
ing a thorough knowledge of tree work. 
These so-called “experts” have not hesi- 
tated to set up a business for themselves 
with no other experience in tree work than 
the filling of a few cavities ; considering 
themselves equipped when they have 
learned to smooth over a cement surface 
with some degree of efficiency, and have 
acquired business cards and a little capi- 
tal. That workers of this type consider 
themselves efficient is shown by their 
eagerness to solicit work in towns and 
cities where trained men of experience are 
in charge of the trees, neither do they 
hesitate to condemn work done by those 
possessing real skill. It is a regrettable 
fact that the desire to become constantly 
more efficient possessed by workers in 
most other lines is notably lacking in tree 
workers as a class, therefore it is not sur- 
prising that more progress has not been 
made in the perfection of better methods. 
It must be confessed that the problems 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
plans. In order to facilitate the transporta- 
tion services, every superintendent is re- 
quested to communicate with the passenger 
agent in his section. The sooner this is 
done, the easier it will be to determine 
just what Pullman arrangements can be 
made. 
Superintendents west of Chicago should 
communicate with J. D. McDonald, assist- 
ant general passenger agent. Grand Trunk 
R. R., Chicago, 111. This division includes 
Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota and the 
other western and southern states whose 
concentration and passing point is naturally 
Chicago. 
Those east of this point and located in 
Indiana, Ohio and western New York 
should write to Harry Parry, assistant gen- 
eral passenger agent, N. Y. C. R. R., Buf- 
falo, N. Y. 
Superintendents south and west of New 
York City who are not included in the 
other parties should write to A. H. Seaver, 
By George E. Stone, in Bulletin of Massachu- 
setts Tree Wardens’ and Foresters’ Association. 
relating to the scientific treatment of cavi- 
ties have never been solved satisfactorily, 
and men who have been for years critically 
noting the progress of the work all over 
the country fully understand its defects. 
P'rom extensive observations, consultation 
and correspondence with some of the most 
intelligent tree workers it has become evi- 
dent to the writer that some different 
method of handling cavities is greatly 
needed. Many of the more enterprising 
and intelligent workers have tried differ- 
ent methods, but with doubtful success. 
The writer’s interest in the practical and 
scientific phases of the problem extends 
back many years, and from the first he 
has been keenly alive to the shortcomings 
of the methods employed. For this reason 
hundreds of experiments have been car- 
ried on in the last twenty years relating to 
this subject. These have included the test- 
ing of a large number of substances de- 
signed for use in cavities. A great variety 
of antiseptics have also been tested, in- 
cluding many new by-products not yet on 
the market. 
The purpose of this article is to give in 
a general way the present status of cavity 
work, and more especially to touch upon 
Imiefly a new method of treating cavities 
that is the result of many years of thought 
and experimentation. To devise a thor- 
oughly practical and scientific method of 
treating cavities would not at first thought 
seem a difficult task compared with other 
tree problems, but this it has proved to be 
in spite of the study given to it. 
The methods employed in cavity work 
have been and still are crude in many 
respects. The use of worthless disinfec- 
tants, the shaping of the cavity orifice, and 
many other practices have shown a total 
disregard of the first principles of good 
assistant general passenger agent, N. Y., 
N. H. & H. R. R., New York City. 
Those in New England should write to 
Horace A. Derry, Glenwood Cemetery, 
Everett, Mass. Supt. Derry has been des- 
ignated by his fellow superintendents to 
concentrate the New England delegation 
at Boston for a trip ensemble to Barre. 
Every member of the association should 
delegate himself as a committee of one to 
communicate with at least three or four 
superintendents who, he believes, are not 
going to the annual convention this year. 
He should urge upon them the advisability 
of attending this educational convention 
and show them the benefits to be obtained 
from co-operative work. It is further the 
duty of every cemetery corporation to send 
the superintendent annually to these con- 
ventions in order to give him the oppor- 
tunity of obtaining important information 
through the convention program and con- 
tact with his fellow craftsmen. 
in Trees 
work, as well as of ordinary common 
sense. 
While the writer has supervised the fill- 
ing of many tree cavities, although mainly 
for experiment purposes, he has always 
believed the practice to be of doubtful 
value, and each year this opinion has in- 
creased in strength. Some of the numer- 
ous objections to be raised against filling 
cavities with cement follow ; 
1. The physical properties of cement 
are so unlike those of a living tree that 
the cement cannot accommodate itself at 
all to the constant swaying movement of 
trees. As a consequence the fillings are 
likely to crack and become displaced, al- 
though this is not so often the case with 
fillings low down in the tree. This un- 
avoidable cracking of the cement renders 
it extremely unsuitable for use in cavities. 
2. Cement, upon drying, shrinks from 
the wood, furnishing an entrance for wa- 
ter, frost and injurious organisms. 
3. It is practically impossible to stop 
bleeding from a cavity that has been filled 
with cement. This bleeding sap or “Slim 
Flux,” which is not uncommon in many 
trees, discolors the bark and in some cases 
injures it. 
4. There is nothing to be gained from 
filling a tree cavity with any material ex- 
cept the direction of the healing tissues, 
which is the chief object of treatment of 
cavities after they have been thoroughly 
cleaned and disinfected. 
5. Cement does not in any case 
strengthen the tree ; on the contrary, it 
often proves weakening from its cumber- 
some and quite unnecessary weight. It is 
not adapted to horizontal cavities, which 
are difficult to seal sufficiently to prevent 
trouble from water, etc. 
6. The several schemes devised to in- 
Treatment of Cavities 
