16 
THE NATIONAL NURSEEYMAN 
Care of Large Trees 
The nurseryman is primarily interested in the grow¬ 
ing and selling of small trees both fruit and ornamental 
so his interest in old or established trees on other peoples’ 
grounds is only secondary. 
There is, however, no one better fitted in training and 
knowledge of tree life to advise as to the care necessary 
to keep them in good condition or to treat them when 
disease or insects attack them, or wounds from storms 
and other causes endanger their well being. 
In nearly all the older sections of the country there are 
thousands of old fruit trees going to pieces for the lack 
of intelligent care. Orchards that could readily be made 
into profitable producers in a much shorter time than it 
would take to bring young trees into bearing and at 
much less cost. 
They could not be made over into modern commercial 
orchards but for home orchards to grow fruit for local 
consumption it seems a great pity that more attention 
is not given to them. 
The recuperative qualities of an old apple tree are truly 
remarkable. 
Gut out the dead wood, clean out and drain the cavities 
and thin out congested growth, and then spray with 
lime-sulphur solution and you have a new tree in no time 
even from hopeless looking specimens. 
It is a curious fact that a large old tree is seldom 
viewed as a living plant that requires cultivation. 
It is a safe estimate to make—that seventy-five per 
cent, of the trees growing on lawns die or become dis¬ 
eased through lack of food, the ground becomes impov¬ 
erished around them and they begin to deteriorate. If 
anyone doubts it let them clean up an old orchard as ad¬ 
vised above and then cultivate and fertilize and see what 
happens. 
If one-tenth of the money that is spent on the so-called 
tree surgery were invested along common sense lines, in 
fertilizing, correct spraying of the trees, far better re¬ 
turns would be obtained. 
If one concern can invest, as reported $2,000,000 to 
advertise tree surgery annually it is easy to imagine the 
amount that is spent on this kind of work, yet anyone 
that is familiar with it knows the “tree surgeon” neither 
prunes the top nor supplies the needs of the tree at the 
root, also that the need of the mallet and chisel on a 
tiee’s trunk is due to long neglect, a little timely atten¬ 
tion would have prevented decay. 
The fad of “tree surgery” has been carried to an ex¬ 
treme, there is something amusing in the gullibility of a. 
man who will spend several hundred dollars on an old 
cripple of a tree and yet begrudge a few dollars spent 
in fertilizer and care of a perfectly sound tree to keep it 
growing vigorously. 
Occasionally one sees a fine specimen of a hard wooded 
tree such as the oak or beech upon which “cavity work” 
is a good investment but such work on old apple trees, 
soft maples is to say the least foolish. 
If such trees have cavities or decayed trunks through 
neglect, by all means clean them out, drain and paint 
them but spend the balance of the money in properly 
pruning and fertilizing rather than cement, tin and iron 
braces. 
What the country needs to help make it beautiful is 
noble specimens of well grown, vigorous trees rather 
than cripples patched up with cement and supported 
with iron. 
Some years ago an able gardener took charge of a 
large estate in the suburbs of Philadelphia upon which 
was a fine collection of trees that had been planted about 
sixty years ago. Many were beginning to deteriorate 
and die and were in pretty bad shape generally. As most 
of them were growing on the lawns in a position where 
the ground could not be worked, to those needing it a 
systematic feeding was given, where possible a heavy 
mulching of cow manure in the winter, and during the 
dry spells in summer, manure water was applied period¬ 
ically to the ground around the trees as far out as the 
branches extended. It was astonishing to see how they 
responded to such treatment, yet after all it was only 
what the real plantsman would expect. 
GOLDEN STAR 
“But many a boy we hold 
Dear in our heart of hearts 
Is missing from the home-returning host. 
Ah, say not they are lost, 
For they have found and given their life 
In sacrificial strife: 
Their service stars have changed from blue to gold! 
That sudden rapture took them far away. 
Yet they are here with us today. 
Even as the heavenly stars we cannot see 
Through the bright veil of sunlight 
Shed their influence still 
On our vexed life, and promise peace 
From God to all men of good will. 
What wreaths shall we entwine 
For our dear boys to deck their holy shrine? 
Mountain laurel, manzanita, 
Goldenrod and asters blue. 
Yellow jasmine, silver pine. 
Wild azalea, meadow rue. 
Tiger lilies, columbine— 
All the native blooms that grew 
In these fresh woods and pastures new, 
Wherein they loved to ramble and to play. 
Bring no exotic flowers: 
America was in their hearts, 
And they are ours 
Forever and a day.” 
Henry Van Dyke. 
