134 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
squeegee coat, both from an economic and 
constructive standpoint. 
The only preliminary work done in re- 
surfacing an old boulevard is to thoroughly 
sweep it with a rotary broom and then 
excavate a strip about a foot wide along 
each gutter, so that the new stone will 
not raise the grade too high above the 
edge of the gutter. 
No doubt the question arises in your 
minds as to whether or not the crown is 
too high with this additional two inches 
on top of the old crown, but we find that 
even where the old crown has not been 
worn down to any marked degree the four- 
teen inches in the forty-foot roadway does 
not give an excess crown. 
HOW CEMETE 
The age and usefulness of the majority 
of decidious and evergreen trees are can- 
celed on an average of about 65 per cent 
before they have fulfilled their functions. 
In other words, the trees we plant for 
shade, landscape or general purposes die 
or are otherwise destroyed when they at- 
tain only 35 per cent of their possibilities. 
Why not array ourselves with our neg- 
lected friends to fight their battles against 
the army of insect life, bind up their 
wounds to prevent disease and decay, make 
their environments more congenial and 
natural, and lastly, but most important, 
lend the proper restraint to insure a long, 
useful and noble existence. 
The operations involved at West Laurel 
Hill Cemetery are forestry plantation, tree 
surgery, landscape planning and planting, 
large tree moving and tree spraying. In 
order to give record of the operations, will 
calendar the work of the past year. 
In the forestry plantations a plan of 
esthetic forestry has been adopted after 
many futile efforts to reforest by tree 
planting the north and northwest slopes of 
the outer boundary of cemetery, where a 
heavy growth of forest monarchs (chestnut, 
oak, beech, hickory) are succumbing to va- 
rious unhealthy conditions. The chestnut 
( Castanea vulgaris) has almost entirely 
been affected with the chestnut back disease 
(Diaporte parasitica) and it has become 
necessary to cut down and burn. The dis- 
ease has spread so rapidly through Penn- 
sylvania, New York and New Jersey that 
millions of trees have already succumbed, 
and to date no remedy has been found ef- 
fective except on a restricted scale with 
the use of gouge, chisel and mallet and 
coal tar at the first appearance. It is my 
opinion that a great amount of assistance 
in spread of the disease is attributed to 
the chestnut gatherers, who use spiked 
climbers. After a close observation of the 
wounds made by the spikes it was found 
the puncture was to the cambium or live 
wood, thus forming a small pocket for 
In some of our cross street intersections 
it is only necessary to resurface just the 
width of the travel, and that necessitates 
the old surface being spiked or scarified 
and some of the old material removed be- 
fore the new stone is laid. This new strip 
is then tapered in both directions, which 
makes a very smooth intersection. 
Patching of plumber cuts and small rav- 
eled places is made by using asphaltic ce- 
ment. Each district foreman has a small 
sixty-gallon portable melting pot, which can 
be attached to a wagon, and all holes are 
repaired as soon as they appear. 
As to the cost of building the penetrated 
asphalt macadam roadway, we have let con- 
tracts. varying from $1.25 to $1.55 per 
square yard. For resurfacing we have 
found the cost to be about 40 cents per 
square yard, with the stone costing $1.60 
per cubic yard and the asphaltic cement $21 
per ton. 
This is our experience up to the present 
time in trying to obtain a boulevard road 
surface suitable for both pleasure and traf- 
fic vehicles. 
In conclusion, the writer hopes this con- 
vention will freely discuss the road ques- 
tion, which plays such an important part 
in the construction and maintenance of 
park roads and boulevards, and will tell us 
how they are meeting these questions of 
new pavements, intersecting streets and 
patches. 
RY TREES ARE CARED FOR 
By John L. Mearns. 
water ; further, the spore had a previous 
opportunity to settle on the tree adjacent 
to the puncture, which would easily be 
washed in during the late fall rains. Also, 
the wounds are made at a time of the year 
when all growth has been made on the 
bark, thus giving an open season before 
making a heal. 
1 he other large trees growing on this 
hill (oaks, beech and hickory) have been 
greatly affected with gas poisoning from 
the smoke and soot of mills of the Ameri- 
can Bridge Company and from the loco- 
motives of two railways at the base of the 
slope. 
All over this slope numerous seedlings 
of oak, gum, maple and aspen have germi- 
nated, forming the basis of an extensive 
new generation. The small seedlings are 
being carefully pruned and trained to in- 
sure straight stems by the aid of white 
cedar stakes tied with raffia. It is amazing 
how quickly a small forest has been started, 
reaching almost 4 feet 5 inches in a few 
years. The cedar stakes are to be sup- 
planted with 1-inch iron pipe, 6 to 7 feet 
in length, as they are more rigid. The 
training and pruning is with idea of ob- 
taining a quick growth by pruning all 
branches to a straight single stem, 7 to 8 
feet to the crown. 
Very little disease has been identified on 
the small seedlings, although the chestnut 
bark disease has been found on- one or 
two small oak seedlings. Also an oak gall 
( Biorhisa aptera) on the terminal growth, 
principally white oak, where the substance is 
soft at the time the egg is deposited. In 
appearance they are reddish, round, fleshy, 
wax bean shape when young, turning to a 
dark brown and drying up after the wing- 
less female emerges. All the saplings thus 
affected are destroyed. Spraying with 
lime-sulphur salt would be effective in de- 
stroying them about June 1. 
The oyster shell and San Jose scale are 
also affecting some of the saplings. These 
are destroyed with early spring spray of 
L.-S.-S. The danger of fire is very great 
and the very steep, inaccessible hill makes 
ordinary fire precautions almost impossi- 
ble. 
Tiie greatest amount of scientific treat- 
ment is required by the trees planted in 
the sections occupied by interments. A 
natural condition arising with a newly es- 
tablished cemetery is to quickly assume an 
old appearance by planting trees of quick 
growth, giving early shade. Thus we have 
many white maples ( Acer dasycarpam) and 
sycamore maple ( Acer pseudo-platanus) . 
These trees are undesirable at any time, be- 
ing of soft wood, easily damaged by 
storms and of unshapely appearance. An- 
other habit which cannot be too strongly 
condemned is lopping off the terminal 
branch of a young tree to encourage low, 
squatty growth or crown. It should be the 
most important to preserve the leader of a 
young tree. One of the saddest incidents 
is to witness an apparently shapely, healthy 
tree split in twain, the result of early train- 
ing to form a many branched tree with 
two, three or more lateral leaders eight 
or ten feet from the ground, which 
gradually with age, weighted with their 
individual trunks, strain and tug at the 
burr-growth forming the junction of the 
main stem, which some day relinquished 
its bond of unity, leaving a gap in the 
symmetry of the tree and an ugly, danger- 
ous wound open to attacks of parasites, 
borers and fungus. Such wounds when 
either untreated or improperly treated cause 
the death of the tree. 
The spore of various fungi, such as false 
binder fungus ( Fomis igniarius) find ex- 
cellent lodgment in such wounds and rap- 
idly spread the mycelium or thread-like 
growth through the entire inner structure, 
changing the wood to a whitish, brittle, 
spongy substance, without any noticeable 
sign from outside except an occasional ap- 
pearance of a fruiting body, which pro- 
duces spore, rapidly spreading to neighbor- 
ing trees. 
