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PARK AND CEMETERY 
The Eive OaK Trees of Atidtibon ParR, New Orleans. 
]n natural beauty and advantages, Audubon Park, 
New Orleans, is ideal. The live oak trees that adorn 
the park are representative trees of the finest class 
of North American sylva. A perfect 
amphitheater of shade and rustling 
overhead canopy of green refreshes 
the broad shell driveways and walks, 
directly through the center of the ave- 
nue of oaks, and bordering the side 
that fronts the Mississippi, while iso- 
lated trees and scattered groups invite 
repose. 
Martha Washington and George are 
the oldest and most gigantic of them 
all, but the average size of every live 
oak in the park exceeds that of any 
other trees of the forest in diameter 
and spread of limbs. The nature of 
the live oak is to spread its limbs and 
increase its circumference rather than to gain height 
There has never been known a tall, slender live oak. 
The point of present interest is that several of the 
finest specimens in the most conspicuous parts of the 
Park have hollows near the base. The hollows are 
on the southern side and seem to be tbe work of in- 
sects and old age combined. Mr. Baker, the super- 
I.IVE OAK PATCHED WITH CEMENT, AUDUBON PARK, NEW 
ORLE.\NS. 
intendent, has adopted a plan to cure and preserve 
the trees that is original and that so far seems effect- 
ual. He has filled the hollows with cement, smoothly 
and evenly applied. The theory is that the lime will 
destroy all fungus growth and prevent further de- 
cay. The exterior of the plaster is becoming weather- 
worn to the extent that the indications point to the 
time when the bark and plaster will appear one. 
It is not by any means unsightly. After ten months 
now, the foliage of the plastered trees remains as 
fresh and of the same dark green and sparkling fin- 
ish as any trees in the whole collection. 
The summer of 1905 was characterized by long, 
rainy .spells. Not just summer showers, but regular 
down-pours of rain, followed by warm weather. This 
continued saturation, and steaming heat of the soil 
afterwards did not affect the heroic old live oaks, 
but proved fatal to the scion of the famous Charter 
Oak, presented by Mr. Parker, of Hartford, Conn., 
to Audubon Park. The young scion (so-called, but 
more correctly a seedling of a few years’ growth), 
was sent to the superintendent in the spring, about 
March, and survived the transfer, growing thriftily, 
until the heavy rains and heat of late summer, when 
it died, despite skillful treatment and closest attention. 
It is not perhaps too much for an amateur to sug- 
gest that the scion of the royal Charter Oak should 
have been sent south, and planted in autumn rather 
than spring. Autumn in the south, spring in the 
north for transplanting all kinds of hard wood shrubs 
and trees. The most expert gardeners and nursery- 
men south recommend fall planting for roses, orna- 
mental shrubs, and fruit and shade trees. My own 
limited experience with oak trees is that truth lies 
in the old saying, “tall oaks from little acorns grow 
that a seedling is much more sure of life and sturdy ^ 
growth than, a transplanted sapling. The live oak 
makes little acorns, not quite as large as the tip end-, 
of a man’s little finger. G. T. Drennan. f 
LIVE OAK (QUERCUS VIRENS) 120 FEET ACROSS. 
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