94 
PARK AND CEMETKRY 
ParK Woodlands and Plantations. 
'J^ead by ], A. PetUgrew before the Wa shington Cormeniion of Park Superintendents. 
The subject of the treatment of natural woodlands in parks 
is of vast importance and commands the earnest thouglit of 
landscape gardeners. Such areas are generally macle up in 
great part of thick growths of trees, which have injured each 
other, more or less, by close contact — natural, perhaps, in 
the sense of having sprung from the soil without the aid of 
man. but having, nevertheless, been subject to such unnatural 
conditions as to upset Nature’s balance. 
The effort on the part of the landscape gardener or forester 
to improve the natural or growing condition of woodlands 
in public parks is generally met with opposition from probably 
well-meaning, but badly-informed, critics, who cry that the 
work is an interference with Nature, and who call in the 
aid of ready tongues, and readier pens, to stop the “outrage.” 
The forester brings into service the practical experience 
and study of years in his effort to assist Nature in her work, 
yet all for naught: the clamor of a few enlisted in a mis- 
taken crusade, discourages him, or influences those in author- 
ity to the extent of causing a stoppage of the work, and the 
result is seen too painfully, all over the country, in the mal- 
formed and distorted condition, from overcrowding, of trees 
in parks. 
General rules can scarcely be framed for the treatment of 
natural woodland ; much depends on the use to lie made of 
it, whether for woodland effects or woodland use. The first 
operation in a thick piece of woodland desired to be retained 
for natural effects should be that of thinning; trees of indi- 
vidual merit or beauty should have inferfering trees removed, 
to allow them to develop freely. In places, areas of greater 
or less size ma}' be found entirely filled with trees, which, by 
reason of overcrowding, are so far injured that they can 
never recover their lost beauty. In such cases a free cutting 
should be made to allow light to penetrate, so as to permit of 
the growth of saplings or newly-planted material below, and 
further cuttings made from year to year, as the young growth 
demands. 
Care should be taken that all tree saplings that may not be 
needed be cut out, retaining only those necessary to replace 
sickly or injured trees. Judicious thinning of all trees should 
be made where they interfere with the growth of better 
ones, noting at the same time, and retaining, picturesque 
groupings or pleasing combinations of trees : preserving, 
meanwhile, a natural appearance in the general mass, and 
encouraging as much individuality as possible without impair- 
ing the natural woodland effects. This thinning will permit 
of the passage of light to the undergrowth, which will re- 
spond quickly to its influence, and materially enhance the 
beauty and naturalness of the woodland. A woodland so 
dense as to prohibit the growth of vegetation on the ground 
is dreary and monotonous. 
The improvement to the woodland by thinning is soon 
noticeable. The branches, relieved of the necessity of having 
to struggle upward to an opening in search of light, spread 
out to such an e.xtent that it very quickly becomes apparent 
that the work of the axe will have to be resumed ; in fact, 
whether in woodland or plantation, the work of the axe is 
iiever completed: it is vandalism to lay it aside. 
The best time to make selections for permanent trees, or 
for cutting, is in the summer. At this season the condition 
of the trees can be more easily ascertained, as their relative 
positions and needs are more apparent than at any other 
season. 
Natural woodlands, when included in lands taken for park 
purposes, must of necessity either dominate or be subservient 
to a general scheme of adaptation ; in the latter case, modifi- 
cations of their outlines may be necessary. Let no mistaken 
sentiment prevent the execution of this work. A park is not 
made for a day: the work of the present is subject to the j 
judgment of the future; the mistakes of today bear disap- | 
pointment for posterity. Should it become necessary, then, to | 
cut any part of the woodland in the execution of a properly j 
devised plan for the unification of the different parts of the | 
ground into an harmonious whole, hesitate not to apply the ! 
steel. : 
Very often natural woodlands are subject to such severe ! 
and constant use by the public that it is impossible to retain j 
underbrush and ground cover. In such cases the destruction | 
■ of the underbrush exposes the ground to the action of the I 
sun : the roots running near the surface, which were pro- 
tected from heat and dryness under the natural forest cover- 
ing, are killed off, and the trees soon deteriorate or die. This 
result cannot be avoided unless some other covering can he 
substituted. Four or five inches of loam seeded in grass will 
serve the purpose and be of great benefit to the trees. | 
The proper treatment of park woodlands includes the care- | 
ful cutting from the trees of all dead or diseased limbs. 
large proportion of trees come to an untimely end because of 
the decay introduced into the holes through the stumps of 
dead limbs. Each cut should be made close and even with 
the bole, and well painted over, renewing the coat when 
necessary until the wound is healed. 
While natural woodlands within park areas are arbitrarily J 
placed, and, generally, control any scheme for harmonizing > 
them with other features, plantations are entirely governed in i 
