2 
House & Garden 
A crude cement patch—ineffective and 
injurious. 
Cement patch removed—showing extensive and 
neglected decay. 
T he tree is a living organism; it breathes, assimilates food, has a real circulation. 
Its normal condition is health, but it is subject to disease and decay just as any 
other living thing. 
As with one’s body or one’s teeth, the tree responds only to that treatment which 
is in scientific accordance with Nature's laws. 
The physician, the surgeon, or the dentist requires years of patient study, plus the 
intuitive skill born of ripe experience, before he is equipped to obtain successful results. 
This is also exactly true in Tree Surgery. However, in Tree Surgery, scientific accuracy 
is not enough. Think of the terrific windstorm with its bending and twisting! You 
will then realize that Tree Surgery must be mechanically perfect to withstand it. The 
mechanical principles and methods of bracing employed by a real Tree Surgeon would 
amaze you. 
Five typical letters 
from hundreds by 
satisfied Davey 
clients 
Mr. Geo. M. Verity, Pres. 
The American Rolling 
Mill Co., Middletown, 
“The \vork which your 
men did on my premises 
has every evidence of be¬ 
ing first class in every re¬ 
spect.” 
Mr, T. W. Snow, Pres. 
T. W. Snow Construc¬ 
tion Co , Chicago, III. 
“The \vc:which you did 
at my place six or seven 
years ago is so satisfac¬ 
tory that I have not found 
it necessary to do any¬ 
thing more. Every tree 
you treated, including the 
worst ones, have since that 
time made new and beau¬ 
tiful trees.” 
Photograph No. 1 illustrates a typical case of tree “patching.” 
To the untrained eye this work probably looks good, but a Davey 
Tree Surgeon saw at a glance that the conditions were bad. 
Growths of fungus disease appeared along the edges of the filling 
and on the bark between the large and small fillings. 
Photograph No. 2 shows the filling taken out. Nearly every 
principle of the science of Tree Surgery had been violated—the 
rough decay only had been removed; the cavity had not been dis¬ 
infected; the condition of decay behind this crude cement patch 
was actually appalling, and the filling had only been in two or 
three months; no bracing of any kind had been used; no means 
had been pr-ovided to exclude moisture; the large filling had been 
put in as a solid mass, making no allowance for the sway of the 
tree. 
Photograph No. 3 shows all decay removed by a Davey Tree 
Surgeon; the cavity thoroughly disinfected and waterproofed; the 
mechanical bracing partly in place; the watersheds cut to exclude 
moisture. 
Photograph No. 4 shows the Davey filling completed, put in 
sectionally to permit swaying wdthout breaking the filling. This 
tree has since stood through many severe storms in perfect con¬ 
dition. New bark is now growing over the filling along the edges. 
The tree has been saved permanently! 
Trees cannot be “patched” like barn doors. Men 
without long training and experience cannot save 
them. Tree Surgery is a science unto itself—a 
science demanding highly specialized knowledge 
and remarkable skill for its successful application. 
Facts little understood 
Mr. Edward Holbrook, 
President, The Gor¬ 
ham Co., New York 
City. 
\Yish to express the 
satisfaction we have had 
in your work. The work 
has been done in a thor¬ 
ough manner and your 
foreman and his assistants 
are entitled to great 
credit.” 
Because the facts set forth above have not been under¬ 
stood, great injury has been done to thousands of trees 
everywhere and a vast amount of money has been wasted 
in disastrous tree “patching.” 
It has been the fault of nobody in particular. Tree 
owners simply have not realized the degree of scientific 
knowledge and mechanical skill required in the perma¬ 
nent saving of trees. And “tree patchers”—the men who 
have been doing the faulty and dangerous work—are in 
many cases conscientious enough, but ignorant of the 
facts and lacking in skill. 
Mr. Wm. H, GrafRin, 
Falston Manor, Glen¬ 
coe, Baltimore Co., Md. 
“The work done at my 
place has been done in a 
very satisfactory way and 
you are fortunate in hav¬ 
ing such efficient and in¬ 
dustrious employees, a re¬ 
freshing experience in 
these days oi carelessness 
and shirking.” 
Mrs. Chas. G. Weld, 
Brookline, Mass. 
“I am very much pleased 
with the result of your 
work on my trees. 
From their present appear¬ 
ance I do not see why they 
should not last many years 
longer, whereas last year 
we had grave doubts as to 
their living. 
in the employ of the Davey Tree Expert Com- 
against those falsely representing themselves. 
Every real Davey Tree Surgeon is 
pany and the public is cautioned 
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