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PARK AND CEMETERY 
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Chicago Tree Planting Society. 
The Chicago Tree Planting Society 
was organized in Chicago March 30 to 
promote the planting of trees by en- 
couraging and directing the observance 
of Arbor Day, distributing literature 
and instructing school children and cit- 
izens in the selection and care of trees. 
Warren H. Manning, of Boston; O. C. 
Simonds, Jens Jensen, A. H. Nelson, L. 
V. Le Moyne and others spoke at the 
opening meeting. The Society has is- 
. sued a folder, telling of the value of 
street trees ; the dangers to trees from 
urban conditions ; the time for plant- 
ing; the trees best suited to Chicago; 
and giving directions for planting and 
care. It bears three illustrations, one 
showing a well-planted street, the other 
two showing views in the poorer resi- 
dence districts, contrasting a treeless 
street with one lined with trees. The 
officers of the Society are : President, 
O. C. Simonds ; vice-president, Edwin 
A. Kanst ; secretary, George A. Hook- 
er ; treasurer, L. V. Le Moyne. 
. * * * 
Arbor Day Notes. 
Arbor Day was observed in Pitts- 
ford, Vt., by the planting of 50 oaks 
and 50 chestnut trees, which were set 
out in various parts of the town, near- 
ly all of them along the highways. The 
observance was carried out under the 
auspices of the Foresters of America, 
although many people outside of the 
members of the order participated in 
the work. 
The Massachusetts Floral Emblem 
Society is using its influence to have 
the mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) 
adopted as the state emblem, and pre- 
sented a petition to the last Legisla- 
ture to that effect. The petition has not 
yet been granted, but the Society has 
adopted it, and announced that all spec- 
imens planted by Arbor Day of this 
year will go on record as historic. 
* * * 
City Tree Protection in California. 
A city ordinance introduced at Sac- 
ramento, Cal., forbids the trimming of 
trees by any but the owners of fronting 
property and is especially directed 
against the linemen of telegraph and 
electric companies, who maim and dis- 
figure many trees. The Sacramento Bee 
says that the ordinance does not go far 
enough, and advocates an ordinance 
putting all sidewalk trees under con- 
trol of some city officer, allowing no 
one to lop off limbs or tops save under 
his direction or by his permission. 
* * * 
Tree Surgery. 
Careful horticulturists treat a cavity 
in the trunk of an orchard tree much as 
a dentist treats a hollow tooth. The 
cavities are due to the work of fungi 
whose spores find lodgment in any 
wound in the bark, especially such in- 
juries as the tearing out or careless 
pruning of a branch. The fungi at- 
tack the living tissues and rapidly en- 
large the hole by the decay of sur- 
rounding portions of the wood. All the 
decayed wood is grubbed out as far as 
possible with a gouge or scraper. The' 
clean surface within the cavity should 
be painted with coal tar to kill any 
germ of decay that might remain, and 
the hole finally filled with Portland 
cement, tamping-in firmly and smooth- 
ly on the outside flush with the edges 
of the cavity. The new bark will then 
begin to close over the cement, and, if 
the tree has vigor enough, will finally 
completely cover it. The cement pre- 
vents water from accumulating in the 
cavity, which goes a long way toward 
preventing the lodgment and growth of 
the spores. 
In foreign forests under careful man- 
agement the trees which show injury of 
this nature receive the treatment men- 
tioned or some equivalent process. 
The oaks on the campus of the Uni- 
versity of California have been treated 
in this way for a number of years, with 
very satisfactory results . — Forestry and 
Irrigation. 
* * * 
In the Arnold Arboretum. 
The officers • of the Arnold Arbore- 
tum, in making preparations for the 
coming summer, have found that the 
cold season has been a rather disas- 
trous one for them. In various parts of 
the grounds valuable specimens from 
warmer climates have been killed, in- 
cluding some that have been growing 
in the Arboretum for twenty-five years 
or more. Just how extensive the losses 
are is not yet known. On the other 
hand, however, some valuable addi- 
tions are to be made as a result of 
Professor Sargent’s recent trip around 
the world, including several species 
from Asia and the East Indies. The 
Arboretum will have an interesting ex- 
hibit at the St. Louis Fair, forming a 
part of the general university exhibit, 
and including a new map of the 
grounds, three by six feet in dimen- 
sions, and two large photographs, one 
showing the Arboretum in summer and 
the other in winter . — Boston Tran- 
script. 
* * * 
Trees in Damp Ground. 
When asked 1 the best trees to plant 
in wet ground the one addressed has not 
an easy question to answer. But. in a 
general way, almost all trees will grow 
in wet ground, provided there be a good 
drainage, or enough of it that circula- 
tion of water goes on constantly. It is 
wet ground from stagnant water that 
kills trees. Our valleys are constant il- 
lustrations of this. Water may be above 
ground in some seasons, especially in 
winter, yet trees grow there and thrive. 
In summer, what with the heat and the 
calls for moisture by the trees, the soil 
loses enough of the water that solid 
ground appears, into which the roots 
spread. As a rule, these trees are sur- 
face-rooting, as will be seen when they 
blow over, which misfurtue often over- 
takes them. Then can be seen a spread 
of roots, many feet in length, on all sides, 
but of less than a foot in depth. It is 
an instructive sight and lesson to view 
such a blown-over tree. I ha.ve seen 
such trees, of immense size, large forest 
trees, with roots extending in a solid 
mass many feet horizontally on every 
side, but not a foot in depth. 
It is a trouble to start trees in such a 
situation. The best way is to procure 
rather small trees, with good spreading 
roots; set them almost on the surface, 
and cover the roots with soil procured 
elsewhere. A small tree with not blow 
over easily, and in a few years, sus- 
tained by the soil placed over its roots, it 
will form new ones, and be in a position 
to care for itself. It need hardly be 
added that it is useless to expect trees 
to grow where water cannot drain away. 
There must be circulation. — Joseph Mee- 
han, in Florists’ Exchange. 
