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The Tree Doctor

THE CARE OF TREES
AND PLANTS

PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED WITH
PHOTOGRAPHS

JOHN DAVEY

THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING CO.

NEW YORK AKRON, OHIO CHICAGO
7?"»«-r . iSOS „

lane

BY
The Saalfield Publishing Company

SPRING.

The snow has gone, the ice, the cold ;

In balmy air the ferns unfold ;

From marshy lands "skunk's cabbage" spring:

Birds, just arrived, now joyous sing.

SUMMER.

Hushed be the winds, and quiet reigns,
As old King "Sol" the zenith gains ;
The birds all rise at early dawn;
At noon — they seek some shaded lawn.

( viii

AUTUMN.

"See the leaves — around us falling —
Dry and withered to the ground,

Thus to thoughtless mortals calling,
With a sad and solemn sound."

(ix)

WINTER.

The harvest is gathered and the sleigh-bells ring,

Let us feed all the poor, as we merrily sing;

For who can be happy while others are sad?

There is no greater "Mission" than to make others glad.

t*OS

INTRODUCTION.

is/to

The original Tree Doctor, notwithstanding its crude form,
started a revolution in tree culture in the United States and
Canada. Since the first edition has been exhausted, urgent calls
have come for a second. In answer to these demands, I have re-
vised the work and now issue -it with the following improve-
ments :

First — 213 photographs, all of the finest quality.

Second — Photographs generally explained by notes contiguous

to them.
Third — Tree surgery described and illustrated in few and simple

words.
Fourth— "Pear Blight" and other "Blights" not^a disease, but

the result of injuries, the source of disease.
Fifth — Cause of "Peach Yellows" — The far-removal of trees

from their native environments.
Sixth — Grape culture made simple.
Seventh — A splendid collection of flower photographs. The

way to grow them.

Eighth — Special illustrations of vines. How to procure them.
Ninth — Native forests, their destruction, the significance,

remedies.

Tenth — K elation between trees, birds and insects.
Eleventh — Numerous photographs illustrating "stiff" and "free"

landscaping.
Twelfth — Twenty formulas for the destruction of insects.

This work is sent forth with a fervent prayer for Heaven's
blessing on it, and an appeal to all to help in planting and caring
for trees in the country that was once pre-eminently "The Land
of Forests."

THE AUTHOR.

(xi )

CHAPTER I

INTERIOR STRUCTURE OF A TREE— WHAT FOLLOWS EXPOSURE OF
"CELL SYSTEM"— How MILLIONS OF TREES HAVE BEEN RUINED-
HOW AMPUTATION SHOULD BE PERFORMED— THE CARE OF THE
WOUND -How NATURE BUILDS A TREE— THE POSSIBLE
AGE OF TREES NEVER YET DEMONSTRATED— DESTRUC-
TIVE WORK OF THE TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH
COMPANIES - WORKOF IGNORANT "TREK BUTCH-
ERS"—BLUNDERS ARISING FROM INJUDI-
CIOUS PLANTING — PROPER PLACE TO
PLANT - STATES SHOULD ENACT LAWS
AUTHORIZING ALL CITIES, VILL-
AGES AND TOWNS TO PUT

TREES ON STREETS UN-
DER SUPERVISION OF
A FORESTER.

It was not designed by the all-wise Creator that animals,
plants, or any living creature should drag through life in a dis-
eased or half-dead condition. Perfect happiness comes from
obedience to Supreme Law, resulting in what we call "health,"
which is the normal condition of bodies existing in harmony with
the Divine Will. The infant who inherits a sound constitution,
and never violates the laws of his being, enjoys, as a reward, a
state of perfect health. There is not a mental malady or bodily
deformity in existence but has back of it an efficient "cause." In
all my study — in the sixty years that I have been permitted to
live — I find that in the physical universe ; in the physical, mental,
moral and spiritual make-up of man ; in the lower animals, and in
the vegetable kingdom, "The Laws of God are One," and no man
can understand a tree, shrub or plant until he not only says but
realizes that (when speaking of or contemplating a tree), "that
tree is a living creature." This fact will be discussed further on
when describing leaves, roots, etc.

The moment you say "Life," what do you imply? All the

( xiii )

14 THE TREE DOCTOR

laws that go to make that life healthy or unhealthy, do you not?
The average person has no clearer conception of the "Law of
Life" in a tree than he has of how the moon performs its circuit.
In one case he says, ''The tree's alive ;" in the other, "The moon
is held by the law of gravitation." That seems to be the end of
his explanation and the extent of his knowledge.

In Photo 1 are seen three apples, Fallawalters. The middle
one is perfect. Why? From a healthy tree. Fortunately our

Photo 1, Fallawalters.

good, everyday commonsense tells us this is what we can expect.
The one on either side (there were bushels of them under the
tree) is diseased. Why? Look at Photo 2. How can you get
sound fruit from a diseased tree?

Examine a leaf. How many will see its beauty, saying
nothing of its utility? Did you ever stop to think that all the
countless millions of tons of timber ever grown were made in the
leaf? Yes, every twig, lateral and main branch, trunk, root and
all were made in the leaf. Now what does it mean when you
cut off a live branch? You have destroyed both respiration and
circulation.

Attention is here called to the marvelous cell system in the

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 2
The Bearer of Unsound Fruit.

structure of the trunk, branches and twigs. Nothing could -be
more educational than to turn back to your botany and see how
beautifully this system is built. Remember, the upward flow of
sap is not under the bark, where you see such a copious supply
of a liquid something that you call "sap ;" for this is not "sap,"
but "cambium," as the scientists call it ; it is sap that has been
''worked over," so to speak, in the leaf ; it might be called "tree
blood," (it answers to blood in the animal body) and it returns
under the bark, between that and the last year's new wood, build-
ing another new layer. Now, bear this in mind, viz ; in its up-
ward flow it is inside, within the cells of the wood.

Now, look at the hideous wounds in Photos 3, 4 and 5 (and
there are millions worse than these.) After pure sap has started
from the roots and then has to pass through this sickening virus,
can you reasonably expect that when it comes to the factory —

THE TREE DOCTOR

the leaf — that pure "blood" can be manufactured from impure
material? You probably had not thought of this; but is it not

Photo 3, A Wounded Tree.

self-evident that perfectly pure, sound fruit cannot be manufac-
tured from polluted material? The lesson is, if you desire pure,

Photo 4, A Hideous Wound.

THE TREE DOCTOR

sound, wholesome fruit, don't subject your trees to all kinds of
fungous and scrofulous diseases. The sap that goes into the leaf
is changed and passes on, but all that which goes into the fruit,
pure or impure, remains there.

The inflicting of a wound on a tree is neither destructive nor
injurious to any great extent if the structure of a tree is under-
stood and the wound is properly cared for ; but the ignorance of
tree life, on the part of the so-called "Tree men," has resulted in
shortening the existence of orchards and shade trees at least
four-fifths of their natural lives, and disfiguring them to such an
extent that it would be advantageous to pull out nine-tenths of
the old trees and replace with young and healthy ones.

In Photo 6 you see how the farmer, and the ignorant city or
town "Tree man" does the work. They cut off, leaving a stub, as
shown in the middle specimen. This had been cut one year, and

Photo 5
Correctly Cut, but Wound not Dressed.

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 6
Every Branch has a Shoulder.

Photo 7
A large Wound that will Heal.

THE TREE DOCTOR

you see that death had set in and that the bark had peeled off.
In a few years the stub rots out, leaving a hole, as you see in
the sample to the right. In Photo 5 you have a case where the
cut was made right but the wound was not dressed. Decay set
in and the rot worked down more than two feet.

In every branch there is what we call a "shoulder." It is a
prominent ridge. To make it plain (in Photo 6) the saw has
been run in back of the "shoulder," and a piece of paper
laid in. The proper place to make the final cut is about an inch
further out. In dropping a large branch it is well to cut the
branch off some way out, to get rid of its weight, then make the
finishing cut in the proper place.

Photo 8

Tree shown in Photo 7 Five Years Later.

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 7 was used in the old "Tree Doctor." It presents
a large wound, with little Roy Marsh standing by it. Five
years have elapsed and Roy has grown taller and the wound
smaller, as you see in Photo 8. You can take off the half of a
tree, or indeed more, and if you will watch the wound and keep
it painted it will heal just as nicely as the wounds are healing in
Photo 10. Any thick paint or coal tar will do. The paint is to
keep out the moisture and preserve the wood until nature can
close it over with a new growth.

In Photo 11 is presented a case where, twelve or fifteen
years ago, some stupid fellow removed two branches from a
Rhode Island Greening tree, and left the wounds unprotected.
The whole interior of the "head" is rotted out and the two men

Photo 9
Use Tile to Protect Young Trees.

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 10
Wounds rightly Treated will Heal.

are shaking hands through the tree, while "Uncle Sam" (on the
opposite side) is putting in a few cast-iron epithets on the ig-
noramus who ruined the tree.

An Apple tree should be in a good state of bearing when two
hundred years old. In planting apple orchards, never take trees
that have been "headed back ;" select the one with the "leader,"
that is, a straight stem. Slip over this a four-inch socket tile,
such as you see in Photo 9. Stuff in some old burlap, carpet or
any cloth, so that the tree will not become chafed in the swaying
of the wind. This keeps the rabbits from gnawing the bark and
prevents whiffletrees from "barking" them when teams are work-
ing among the young trees. About the time the tree has filled

22 THE TREE DOCTOR

the tile, give the tile a tap with the hammer, and the young tree
will be big enough to take care of itself.

In the eastern states, the apple orchards are rapidly dying,
killed by the "Scale." This pest multiplies so fast that they ac-
tually encrust the bark, covering it up completely, and suck the
life of the tree until the orchards are standing dead, as shown
in Photo 12. This condition is reported in practically all of

Photo 11
If Neglected, Wounds will Destroy Trees.

eastern New York, and I witnessed the same in New Jersey.
This seems to foreshadow a "famine" in the apple crop. It is
a matter that should be taken up, and planting done by a host
of people who have means. Last fall I had to pay fifteen cents
a quart for eating apples in New Rochelle, N. Y., and they were
charging six dollars a barrel, wholesale. There is certainly a
fine field for people of moderate wealth to invest in apple
growing.

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 12
Orchard Killed by "Scale."

Photo 13
Rathbone Elm, Marietta, Ohio.

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 13 presents a remarkably interesting tree. It is on
the Rathbone property in Marietta, Ohio. The house — seen
through and beneath the branches — looks like some little play-
house, but it is a structure of more than ordinary size. The

Photo 14
Maple One Hundred Years Old.

THE TREE DOCTOR 25

spread of the branches of this majestic tree is over one hundred
and thirty feet. I have seen but one Elm larger than this, and
that is near South Framingham, Mass. The Framingham Elm
has about one hundred and fifty feet spread of branches, but it
is really a double tree ; that is, it divides — near the root — into
two trunks. The trunk of this Marietta tree can be seen in
Photo 102. The tree now needs a little attention to secure it
against the violent force of wind-storms, etc., but otherwise is in

Photo 15
Street beautifully Arched.

a good state of preservation. "Root treatment" would entirely
renew the top ; and, as it is only about two hundred years old,
there is no reason that it could not see two or even three cen-
turies more.

On Dec. 10th, 1904, I gave a stereopticon lecture at Burling-
ton, Yt. Prof. Jones, of the Experiment Station, was present
and, at the close, remarked: "I agree with you, Mr. Davey, that
the world, as yet, has never tested the possibility of tree life ; for

26 THE TREE DOCTOR

being exogenous in its structural work, (i. e., building on the
outside) it naturally follows that, could we control the top from
running too high, endangering the tree in wind-storms, and re-
new the roots, there is no reason that it would not go on and
build indefinitely." I wish Prof. Jones's sentiments could be
heard the world over ; then, in time, in our lawns, instead of
having a thicket of brush, we would have specimens of majestic

Photo 16
Sacrificed for Telephone Wires.

trees that could defy the storms, and through whose branches
the winter winds would sing, "Praise God from Whom all bless-
ings flow !"

Look at the young Maple in Photo 14. I say it is "young,"
not quite a hundred years old. It stands in the midst of a culti-
vated field, and as yet there are no breaks in the beautiful top,
and if wounds are prevented and roots kept active, there is no
reason why decay should attack the center for hundreds of years

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 17
All Wires can go Under these Branches.

to come. The top leans a little, but that is on account of the
prevailing winds from the south-westerly side.

The Oak should live to be a thousand years of age. We
have this fact established in connection with the old estates of
Great Britain and the older countries. What was once a very
symmetrical White Oak is shown in Photo 16. In order to run
a straight line for telephone poles, they slashed right through
the side, and then leffthe wounds open to carry decay to the
very center of this fine specimen — the work of Nature for some
seventy-five years. "Vandalism!" do you say? If we have no
laws by which we can pronounce it "criminal," we should
speedily enact such laws as will make it a dastardly "criminal"
offense to destroy "property" in such a way.

If there were an occasion for a telegraph or telephone com-
pany to run'their line on the street seen in Photo 15, the merci-
less butchers would have no regard for the beauty therein pre-
sented.

28 THE TREE DOCTOR

Suppose one of the "wire" companies took a notion to run
the "line" so that it had to pass through the roof of a school
house or the end of your residence, and proceeded with axe and
saw to demolish the portions of the building that were "in the
way," you would pronounce it "destruction of property," would
you not? Are not these young Maples in Photo 18 "property;1''

Photo 18
Are not Trees Property?

Are the "rights" of this poor man to be trampled under foot be-
cause he has no money with which to "law" a great "corpora-
tion?" All states should speedily enact laws to protect the tree
— as "property."

But there are two sides to all questions. We must not be-
come fanatical and spend our time "ranting." We desire the
telephone and the trolley car, and often give "the right of way"

to procure them. By what route shall they

By the

"highway," shall they not? for that is where the peopld live.
But is it necessary to construct the line on the road? Yes, it is
the most convenient for the trollev line — when you consider that

THE TREE DOCTOR

phone lines, however, it is different ; the poles might just as well
be in the field, a hundred feet from fence and trees. While it
would take a little extra wire to run to the houses, yet there.
would probably be a saving to the company, as their wires would
not be endangered by falling trees, neither would the current be
"grounded" by contact with the sap of the tree. ''Feed wires"
are commonly run through the tops of trees and occasionally set
fire to the latter ; and I have seen cases where the linemen have
notched the wires where they come in contact with the branch,
so that, in the swaying of the top, some branches are actually
sawed and burnt off!

In considering this dispute between the people and the trol-
ley and telephone companies, there are many phases that demand
attention. First, all kinds of blunders have been committed in |
the matter of planting trees. (And there is no one particularly

Photo 19
Headed Back in the Nursery.

30 THE TREE DOCTOR

to blame, as every one in planting did ''the best he knew how.")
The wrong kinds have been selected and, almost invariably, in
towns, have been set in the wrong place. Even when put in an
improper place, all trouble might have been avoided by gradu-
jally carrying. the head of the tree higher up by the removal of
(the lower branches, so that the bottom branches are fifteen or
twenty feet from the ground, and all wires go under the

Photo 20
The Work of Ignorant Tree Men.

branches. See how nicely this could be accomplished in the
case shown in Photo 17. But where would there be a chance to
do this in the case presented in Photo 18? (These are telephone
wires, and the "line" ought to be in the field).

Really,, the situation is complicated and often serious.
\Yhile the men who construct the line are often "ugly" and
brutal, and take every advantage to "get through" a tree when
they are not being watched, vet, be it said to the credit of some

THE TREE DOCTOR

of the officials of the companies, they do often ''try to do right,"
by going to a great expense in putting in poles sixty feet high
or more, to keep away from the trees. ("Give the devil his
due.")

"Well," says the practical man, "What's the remedy?"
Answer. In rural districts, keep the telephones away from the
trees — out in the field. In towns, put them underground. Trol-
ley lines, wherever it is practicable, keep under the branches.

Photo 21
As Charming in Winter as in Summer.

Where the tree must be cut, this work should be done by an ex-
pert, holding credentials from some school, showing that he is
capable of performing such work so that there is the least dam-
age possible to the tree.

But the trolley and linemen are not doing all the damage ;
no, not a tenth part of it !

Look at Photo 19. These are young Norway Maples, about
twenty years old and in perfect health. The common mistake
that is made has been committed with these. The lower

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 22
Cemetery Butchered, Huntingdon, Pa.

branches are about seven feet from the ground. They were
| ''headed back" in the nursery. This should not be done. The
• "leader" (straight stem) should be preserved, and the lower
branches gradually removed until a height of twelve feet is
reached. The "heading back" might be done at sixteen feet
high, forming the "head" between the points of twelve and six-
teen feet. Then all the trimming is practically done ; hereafter
keep hands off! Xature does not form those beautiful and
health-giving tops of shade trees to be cut to pieces to furnish
"beer money" for a lot of Tree Fools. See what kind of work
the "Tree men" — so-called — do, as shown in Photo 20. This is
on the same street as Xo. 19, a little further up. Photo 21 pre-
sents what is very common winter scenery in the communities
where no professional "Tree man" has cursed the place with his
diabolical presence. The endless variety of the tracery of
branches of trees in winter is almost as charming as their de-
lightful foliage in summer.

THE TREE DOCTOR 33

But what a wonderful creature is "Man!" Look at the
Cemetery, Huntingdon, Pa., Photo 22, and behold what "Man"
can do ! Ten thousand dollars would not repair the damages to
that beautiful city of the dead !

Few, if any, greater misfortunes have befallen America, in
the last quarter of a century, than the coming of what are known
as professional "Tree men" in every city and in many towns.
Sometimes his knowledge of tree life is displayed by a few dozen
Latin names of trees, that he has found in some nursery cata-
log, or it may be only in his ability to swing an axe, run a saw,
bore holes in trees and fill them with cement and sulphur, (this
is one of the "secrets") and make believe that the sap will take
up this "preparation" and carry it all over the tree and kill every
scale and bug ; plastering, also, the trunks with other "prepara-
tions" and often killing the trees thereby. But in all their ig-
norant and nefarious frauds, nothing equals their (what ought
to be) "criminal" work of cutting away the tops of trees. The

Photo 23
Mutilated with the Saw.

34 THE TREE DOCTOR

old State of Pennsylvania has apparently suffered as much as
any from these depredations. Harrisburg, the capital, has been
almost completely denuded by them. Substantially all the trees
on the streets have been ruined, and probably the park trees
would have been had not it been for the timely protests of J.
Horace McFarland, and his co-workers.

Tens of thousands of what might have been good trees have
been ruined in Philadelphia by these tree vandals, resulting in

Photo 24
Their Beauty Is Forever Gone.

a lessening of real-estate values to the extent of millions of dol-
lars. On giving a lecture, recently, in that city before the Civic
Club, someone asked, "What is the object of cutting the trees
to pieces in this manner?" To which a lady replied that she
never heard but one explanation. This, she said, was given in
answer to the same question that she propounded to a "Con-
tractor." This contractor hired negroes, Italians and cheap
labor on "grading" under the guise of "landscaping." "Well,"

THE TREE DOCTOR 35

said he, "when the spring opens, our men feel that they ought
to be doing something ;" so, in order to get "something" for the
men to do he called on the good people and "contracted" for
what looks like a small sum to "treat the trees." In other words,
kill them ; and then collect a bill for the ignorant and wicked
work.

It is easy to victimize the people because there are so many
other blunders that have preceded the "Tree man," or have been
committed by him.

Photo 25
The Lower Branches are to Protect the Roots.

Take, for example, the charming row of Hard Maples, seen in
Photo 25. Can you imagine anything more thrilling in tree life
either in winter or summer? They were set out some fifty years
ago. They may have been five years old at the time of planting,
so that they are really fifty-five years of age. Following what
may be called "the instinct of tree life," they have thrown out
their first or lower branches to shield and protect the roots.
This is what any single tree will do, when not crowded by other
trees. (See Photos 35, 66 and 85.) The spread of the roots is
equal to the spread of the top. In other words, the "feeder

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 26
A serious Annoyance to Pedestrians.

roots" are just under the drip of the branches. Now, as to
'whether the branches on a given tree are to be high up or low
down must be determined by the situation that the tree is to oc-
cupy. This row seen in Photo 25 is by the highway. On either
side the branches extend some thirty feet. On the roadside they
reach away toward the middle of the highway and drag on buggy
tops and are pronounced a "nuisance." To cut off the two lower
tiers means the removal of about one-third of the top. This is
a needless waste, i. e., if the trees had been rightly handled. On
a street, boulevard, or any kind of highway, we have no choice.
We must keep up out of the way of interference with traffic.
Take again the case in Photo 26. On this street was a row of
Maples on each side. The branches were down low, not only
on the sidewalks, as you see, interfering with umbrellas, but
drooped equally low over the center of the street, so that it was

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 27
Too Low for the Street.

a serious annoyance to automobilists, coachmen and teamsters.
No condition could have been more favorable to the growth of
the tree, because it had perfect root protection. But such ob-
structions on highways cannot be tolerated. The lower
branches must come off. This is where the surgical skill must— J
be applied.

In Photo 27 you have another case of "too-low-down" be-
cause these trees are on the street. Those in front of the Kent,
Ohio, M. E. Church, seen in Photo 23, were formerly down low,

Photo 28
Young Maples, Kent, Ohio.

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 29
Same Trees as in Photo 28 Trained up High.

some six years ago, but the objectionable limbs were taken away,
and wounds carefully dressed and the trees are now in perfect
health, as can be seen in Photo 29. This is now becoming a
model row of young Maples. There is yearly some elongation
of the trunk and, in a few seasons, if necessary, a line of tele
phone wires can be run under the branches.

Much of the trouble that we are encountering to-day is at^
tributable to errors and oversights of the past. For example,
when a town starts, after building houses, most people begin to
plan for trees, vines, etc. In many of these young towns the
future street lines are quite indefinite. In most cases they have
to be guessed at. While the town is small it makes but little
difference. However, in those cases where the communities
have grown to considerable size, and exact lines and grades have
had to be established, it has often seriously interfered with the
original tree planting. It was a very common thing to plant the

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 30
Rock Maple, Logansport, Pa.

shade trees in the little narrow border between the sidewalk and
the street. Where towns have grown into cities and the streets
have been covered with asphalt, it has almost invariably proved
fatal to the tree. There is but one hope of having good street
trees in cities and the larger towns, and that is by every state
passing enactments empowering such incorporated communities
to put all the trees on the streets under city municipal super-
vision, just the same as the sidewalks, and then place competent
men to care for such trees, and charge the costs to property
owners with the taxes, like paving a street, grading or laying a
sidewalk. It is useless to leave it to the individual, because
where one understands the management of a tree and would at-
tend to it, there are dozens who neither know nor care about the
matter.

This subject is thoroughly discussed and illustrated in "A NEW
ERA IN TREE GROWING."

THE TREE DOCTOR

When, five years ago, the old "Tree Doctor was published,
it devoted seven pages to the condition of trees in Cleveland,
Ohio, where trees were in a deplorable condition. The news-
papers took the subject up and, in two years, the city petitioned
the State legislature for a Forestry Commission which was pro-
vided for, and now the trees have improved several hundred
per cent.

Up to the time referred to, (five years ago) all writers had
assigned the cause of the failure in the "Forest City," mainly to
smoke. The "Tree Doctor" pointed out the fact that the main
cause was not in smoke but in the soil or rather no soil at the
root, plus a heavy sod formed on the lawns by putting on a few
inches of top-soil, thus shutting out water and air from the roots
of the trees. (The central part of Cleveland has nothing but the
barrenest sand.)

To satisfy anyone that the smoke is not so detrimental as

Photo 31
The Lower Branches are well out of the Way.

THE TREE DOCTOR

supposed, I call attention to Photo 30. This is at the little sta-
tion of Logansport, Pa., on the Allegheny Valley Railroad. The
tree that is so conspicuous is a Rock Maple. It has grown since
the railroad was built. Not only does this tree receive the
smoke day after day and year after year, but if you look farther
up the track you will notice a large Sycamore, hanging directly
over the main track ; and around the curve is another, a majestic
Elm ; and right up into the foliage of these over-hanging
branches the heavy locomotives vomit their scalding steam and
smothering smoke, and yet there is scarcely any difference in
the foliage of these parts of the trees. They are in a state of
perfect health because their root conditions are right.

To show how a tree can be carried up and be out of the way
of passing vehicles, you can learn a lesson from Photo 31. The

Photo 32
Planted Three Feet inside the Sidewalk.

42 THE TREE DOCTOR

diameter of the top of this Elm is eighty feet. If it were situ-
ated ten feet inside of a road fence, it would hang over the cen-
ter of a sixty-foot highway. (See also Photo 19.)

The fine, young Maple seen in Photo 32 is located, not on

1 a narrow border between the sidewalk and curbing, but some

three feet inside the sidewalk, in the lawn. Its roots ramble

Photo 33
Too Near the Sidewalk.

freely in the soil of the shrubbery bed inside, and pass out
under- the sidewalk to the gutter, in the street. Should this
street be asphalted at any time, it could result in but little injury
to the tree.

Photo 33 shows two very thrifty Horse-Chestnuts standing
in a row of privet hedge. Though the trees are somewhat
young (not over forty years old), yet see how nicely they shade
the sidewalk. These should have been planted some three feet

THE TREE DOCTOR

farther within the lawn. It would have been better for the
trees ; and, as they spread out, would present less contact with
the wires. In street planting, I would urge consideration of the
propriety of setting the shade trees on the lawn inside the side-
walk, instead of on the ordinary narrow strip, set apart for that

Photo 34
Plenty of Room Means Individuality.

purpose, between the sidewalk and the curbstone. I know the
original intention of planting in the narrow strip was good ; the
intention was to have the tree shade both the sidewalk and the
street, but if your trees do not do well there, and you know that
they seldom do, you get shade for neither. One tree, properly
set and cared for on the lawn, will do more good than a half a
dozen in the more unfavorable situation.

On narrow streets, limit the "border" to two feet. On this
strip, the telephone and light poles can be set, with room for a

44 THE TREE DOCTOR

nice little border of sod. Then, striking another line, say six
feet from the sidewalk, on the lawn, set your shade trees about
twenty-five feet apart. If properly set, and of the right size and
kind, their branches will soon come together, and extend out
over the street, as you see in Photos 33, 59 and 74. There is no
guess-work about this, for the camera never lies ; it tells you the
story faithfully, just as it is.

Photo 35
The Spread of the Roots Equals the Spread of the Top.

We deal now with another phase of the subject. Why are
the native woodlands so inexpressibly beautiful ? Why does the
eye never tire of looking at the rugged, scrambling methods (or
rather, no methods) of wild nature? Because every tree, plant,
vine, aye ! every branch of tree and vine is free to go in the di-
rection where it can be the most benefitted.

Many people "have eves and see not." About the middle of
last June I went from Pittsburg to Xew York in daylight. From
Johnstown, up over the Allegheny Mountains, down around the
"Horseshoe Bend," on to Altoona, and down, skirting the

THE TREE DOCTOR 45

Juniata River, to its confluence with the Susquehanna, near to
Harrisburg, it was one perpetual kaleidoscopic presentation of
the endless varieties of Nature's verdant grandeur. Behind me
sat two ladies who had bought a morning paper and discussed,
in the most ardent manner, the merits (?) of a certain scandal.
In front was a quartette of good-natured men, enjoying poker
and the contents of two whisky bottles. Across the aisle was a
corpulent man snoring happily in dreamland ; .back of him, a
fine-looking young lady absorbed in a magazine of the latest
fashions ; and so on throughout the car. I could not keep my
eyes from the transcendent grandeur of mountain, hill and vale.
Every time I glanced at my fellow travelers, it was more like
a dream. It seemed that it could not be that people pass
through such a beautiful world and not see the surrounding
grandeur which far excels any picture presented from the pulpit
of the glory of the New Jerusalem. Well, I will revert to the
trees. In estates where there is an abundance of land, give the
trees plenty of room, and let their lower branches rest on
ground. This gives the tree individuality of character,
those lovely specimens in Photos 34 and 35. These, and dozens
of others, are at the summer home of Mr. W. B. Dickerman,
Mamaroneck, N. Y.

LU LUC

ive thej
on the/
-. See*

CHAPTER II

THE "CR'OTCHED" TREE -How THE TROUBLE is PRODUCED— WRONG

METHODS OF APPLYING REMEDIES— THE PROPER METHOD -How

TO CHOOSE TREES FOR PLANTING -WHERE TO FORM THE

TOPS — TREE SURGERY — SPECIMENS OF PERFECT

HEALING - KINDS OF TREES TO ILANT ON

STREETS - ROOTS — THEIR ACTION -

CARE OF ROOTS— DESTRUCTION

OF ROOTS BY INCOMPETENT

•• LANDSCAPERS."

Photo 36 presents some very healthy Horse-Chestnut trees.
Do you see anything particularly wrong with them ? Probably
not. By the way, the Horse-Chestnut makes a very fine shade
tree, but is subject to the failings of most Elms, "Soft Maples,"
Red Oaks and quite a few other trees. The trouble is, they arc-
apt to be "crotchy." Thousands of beautiful Elm trees yearly
go to pieces from the force of the wind at these weak points.
Photo 37 shows the remains of an Elm which, a few years ago,
would have been considered by some worth thousands of dollars.
Over one quarter of the tree was rent off in a gale, on the side
where the gentleman is inspecting it. Another huge branch,
higher up to the left, came off in the same storm, while the re-
mainder is split clear to the ground in the center. How will-
ingly we would "lock the door after the horse is stolen !" Hun-
dreds of thousands of the finest trees in the country are jeopar-
dized annually from this weakness. Of course the larger the
tree, the greater the leverage of the wind on its branches, and
those that are torn to pieces in this way are usually the most
valuable.

If you turn back to the Photo marked "Summer," you
will be looking at the front of Mr. Henry M. Flagler's resi-
dence, Orienta Point, Mamaroneck, N. Y. You will notice
that a little to the left of the center of the house, and some fifty
46

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 36
Horse-Chestnuts are Apt to be Crotchy.

feet out from the building, there is a beautiful Elm towering up
and spreading like a huge umbrella. This tree was split, how-
ever, in three places ; in one of them to the ground. It was my
good pleasure to be permitted to put twenty of our young stu-
dents to work there, fixing up all the trees on the estate. So
thorough was the work on the Elm referred to that a wind
would have to blow it down before it could split again ; and so
pleased was Mr. Warren, the superintendent, that he remarked :
"I consider your work in saving this Elm alone worth all that
the bill amounts to on the whole estate."

In my lecture work, in writing, and on all occasions I lay
more stress on the troubles arising from the "forked" or
"crotched" condition of trees than on all others, because it is
safe to say that seventy-five per cent, of orchard and shade trees
that have been planted are weakened from this source. "What
is the remedy?" Those applied are sometimes as bad as the

Photo 37
Ruined by Windstorms.

Photo 38
If Placed Properly, Bolts Strengthen.

THE TREE DOCTOR

disease. Chains are often put around the branches, resulting in
"girdling." Sometimes iron clamps are used, with the same re-
sult. Whatever method is used it is safe to say the purpose of
the person was all right. Undoubtedly he did the best he knew
how. If I can give some clearer ideas of the best methods it
ought to accomplish much good.

The bolt should be used in preference to the clamps. "But \
where shall I place the bolt?" Look at Photo 38. Suppose you
put the bolt where the line indicates. What is the result?
Sometime, it may be soon or it may not be for years, a strong
wind will place its shoulder on one or the other of the high
branches, and will make a fulcrum of the head of the bolt; then
C-R-A-C-K ! and away goes one-half of the tree ! However, a
bolt can be put at the point to draw it firmly together, after the
decayed matter has been removed and the proper filling put in
place.

The same should be done in the case of Photo 39. But after

Photo 39
A Bolt is Needed.

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these points are secured, place a bolt higher up, as in Photo 40 ;
higher up still where the right hand is pointing would be pre-
ferable. But the best method of all is what we have recently in-
troduced, the hook-bolt and chain. This is less expensive and
more effectual.

Photo 40
Place Bolt Higher Up.

All who have trees with the tendency to splitting will not
only save expense by heading off the danger before breaking,
but save the tree itself. Alas! how many have mourned when an
old monarch and friend is laid low and gone forever!

Photo 42 is a young Cherry tree ; one of an orchard of one
hundred trees, planted some ten years ago. Like all the others,
it was planted just as it came from the nursery. This, you see,

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was "headed back" not three feet from the ground. Apple,
Pear, Peach, Plum trees — all come out of the nurseries "cut
back" three or four feet from the ground. This is decidedly

Photo 41
The Hook-bolt and Chain.

wrong. The only reason that the nursery men assign for it is,
"People will not buy fish-poles and whip-stalks ; they call for a
tree ; that is, a stalk with branches." The nurserymen say, "We
know that you are right, but we grow the stock for sale." You

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 42

Heading Back is Wrong.

see the people are under a great delusion ; their education is de-
fective. Good people, you should learn that in purchasing nurs-
ery stock it is cheaper for you to go out and cut "brush wood''
in the fence corners than it is to pay twenty-five cents a handful
— extra — to have it on the young tree when it is brought to you.
If you will call for a straight "leader," a two-year old plant,
standing five or six feet high, then you can make a decent tree
out of it, high or low — just as you desire.

Look at Photo 43. This is another young Cherry tree. I
went into the nursery and picked out this and some others for a
friend. The lower tier of branches was removed every year
until it was of the desired height. There is not a "crotch" in it,

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 43
Having a Straight Leader.

or in any of its companions. There need not be in any tree
though it may have a tendency to that weakness. As a young
tree grows remove with the jack-knife all the branches that show
signs of being "forked," and this will force out the lateral twigs
and form them into strong branches.

As to the height to form the "head," that must be left to
your judgment. This, shown in Photo 43, is by a driveway and
hence is carried up fully seven feet from the ground. The ulti-
mate outcome of the "crotched tree" is what you see in Photo 44.

THE TREE DOCTOR

This was a fine old Cherry tree — split at the point where it was
formerly "headed back."

TREE SURGERY.

There is one law that is said to hold good in animal life,
namely, "the life of any animal is capable of being five times the
period of its maturity." For example, a horse matures its size
at five, and may be a fairly good horse at twenty-five years. A
neighbor of mine has one thirty years old and he drives to town
with it. A man matures his body, substantially, at twenty, and
often lives to be an hundred years old. Sometime since, I photo-
graphed a Mrs. Freeman, at Red Bank, Pa., at the age of one
hundred and twelve years. She had "made garden" that season,
and also attended to "herding" the cow. She was quite bright,
and could accurately relate all the incidents of the early days of
that region.

Photo 44
Split as a Result of Heading Back.

THE TREE DOCTOR

The law in plant and tree life is strongly analogous to the
animal kingdom. An Apple tree makes a good size at forty
years, and should be "hale and hearty" at two hundred years.

Some scientists speak of the "heart" of a sound tree as being
"dead ;" indeed some have gone so far as to call all the tree
"dead" except the outer parts. It seems to me, however, a mis-
take to use the word "dead" to designate those stationary
parts. How can we apply the term "dead" to the center of
a tree whose millions of cells are constantly engaged in con-
veying "live sap" to the upper extremities to be converted into
"tree blood?" Gentlemen, can't you "coin" a better word?
"Death" is always associated with decay. In Photos 45
and 46 you surely have "dead" centers. They have de-
cayed and disappeared. Photo 45 is a very peculiarly in-
teresting case. It is a Norway Maple, on the grounds of Mr.
Robt. Pitcairn, Ellsworth Ave., Pittsburg, Pa. All the cen-
ter was completely decayed and had to be taken out ; nothing but

Photo 45
Norway Maple, Robert Pitcairn grounds, Pittsburg, Pa.

THE TREE DOCTOR

a shell left with one little strip of live wood, on one side, from
which the new work of healing could begin. Photo 46 is an old
Cherry tree of fine quality. Nothing but a shell left. This is
at Mr. Hollister's, Quaker Ridge, Mamaroneck, X. Y. Within
is seen beautiful little Martha Hollister, granddaughter of Mr.

Photo 46
Mammoth Cherry Tree, Mamaroneck, N. Y.

and Mrs. W. B. Dickerman. This tree was also filled and will
heal completely over.

"Tree Surgery" is a delicate and complicated science, about
as much so as that of the veterinary or human surgeon. There
is absolutely no "rule" for doing the work. There are never two
cases alike ; hence we have found it necessary to "drill" young
men who — otherwise — are men of skill. It is with pleasure and
some amount of honest pride that we can call attention to our
intelligent young men, a group of whom is shown in the frontis-
piece.

First these young men have to understand the vital princi-

THE TREE DOCTOR

pies of tree-life. The next thing is for them to fully compre-
hend the grave fact that Life and Death are eternally at war with
each other, and that the life energies cannot perform the work of
healing while any of the death elements are left to antagonize
the living forces. Hence all the dead matter must be removed.
This, at times, is arduous and tedious work, but the average

Photo 47
Ready for Filling.

young man feels some degree of pride when he can complete a
piece of work ready for "filling," as you see it in Photo 47. I
notice from the papers and magazines that there are a host of
"Tree Doctors" springing up over the land. These are probably
the most reputable portion of the old "Tree men" who, formerly,
murdered millions of trees. However, we should encourage a
"conversion" wherever a man "turneth away from his wicked-
ness and doeth that which is lawful and right." I regret to say,
however, that so far I have not seen a single piece of their cement

58 THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 48
The work Completed.

work that has been done in such a way that no moisture can pos-
sibly get behind the cement. If water is allowed to get in, it
would be ten to one better not to have "filled ;" for the decay is
intensified tenfold by having the moisture shut in and the air
excluded. Photo 48 is the same subject as 47. No two teams
of horses could pull the material out. This tree is on Mr. Wm.
Rockefeller's estate, Tarrytown, N. Y. The trouble was caused
by a large branch blowing off. How very important it is to
"prevent" those "crotched" branches from splitting and causing
such mischief and expense. Remember the "stitch in time."
The tree, shown in four consecutive stages, is situated in
the rear of the school house, Sewickley, Pa. It was ordered re-
paired by the borough School Board, and cost about sixty dol-
lars. It was described a year ago in print as "The Maple and
the Man." It may live for hundreds of years. It took some
three tons of material to fill the large cavity. Photo 50 shows
what a beautiful specimen it is.

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 49
The Maple in its Diseased State.

THE MAPLE AND THE MAN.
The Maple.

Lo ! here I've stood, in silence deep,

Through winter's storm and summer's heat

The school house bell and children's cheers

I've heard for nearly fifty years.

I've called on teachers, passers-by.

But none, it seemed, could hear my cry ;

THE TREE DOCTOR

I've hailed the children, youth and age,

The man of "rank," the priest, the sage ;

I've shown my wounds to great and small,

But all declined to heed my call ;

Or, peradventure, such may be,

They did not comprehend a tree !

But think, because I'm free from strife,

I'm not endowed with force or life,

And need no care or human thought,

'Mid winter's blasts and days so hot!

Photo 50
The Maple with Decayed Center partly Removed.

THE TREE DOCTOR

I welcome thee! Oh, "Man of Trees,"
Thy fame shall spread upon the breeze :
When millionaires shall be forgot,
And all the honors they have sought
Have passed into oblivion's gloom,
A.nd fortunes met their fitful doom,
The noble trees of forest fair,
The apple tree, the plum, the pear,
The copse and grove of every clime,
Shall raise their praise to Him — Divine-

Photo 51
The Maple Filled and Finished.

62 THE TREE DOCTOR

Who's heard our cries in Heaven above
And manifests a father-love,
And sends redemption full and free
For every plant, and shrub, and tree.

The Man.

Thy prayers are heard, oh beauteous tree !

And soon will spread from sea to sea ;

Though starless was thy night of gloom,

Thy light shall shine as bright as noon.

Thou pleadest well for all thy kind ;

Thy prayers are heard by highest mind.

Be calm and do not think us "rough"

As we remove this odious stuff;

For life and death at war will be.

Alike in man or beast or tree ;

These hideous wounds ! this rotten wood,

Is "home" for bugs and makes them food.

"Ouch!" did you say? well, do not flinch,

We move this virus inch by inch ;

With mallet, chisel, drill and saw,

We clear the way for Nature's law

To reconstruct and build it strong —

A body that will last you long —

And teach the world what all should know

Trees must have care or cannot grow ;

They cannot heal while DEATH is hid

In body, root, or branch, or twig.

So now stand forth and shout thy call,

And show to youth and age and all

The "law of life" is much the same

In beast or bird, or tree or man.

With careful process, day by day,

We've taken all dead parts away,

Just as a dental surgeon — wise —

We clean the tree before your eyes.

We use no "liquid," "wash" nor "soap,"

Nor any kind of secret "dope,"

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 52
The Maple after Treatment, with some 300 School Children.

But clean the tree of "scale" and rot,
And give the aid it long has sought ;
Yes, "sought" by mute appeal to all.
Although they did not hear the call.
"Tree life" but few could understand ;
But, lo ! they wake throughout the land.
Aye! with love and zeal, unique, sublime!
Inquiries come from every clime !
From South, beneath the torrid heat.
From frozen North, so cold, so bleak !

64 THE TREE DOCTOR

Around the world, upon the breeze,

Goes forth the call to "save our trees!"

This call at once we all should heed,

And give the trees the care they need ;

Not "medicines" from "quacks" and "fakes,"

But commonsense is all it takes,

Combined with knowledge of a tree,

With "ears to hear" and "eyes to see"

When troubles rise and where it leads,

And head them off by Careful deeds. "

The Maple.

Praise Him, ye morning stars of light!

And all ye sparkling hosts of night !

Praise Him, ye glorious, shining sun !

Praise Him, ye moon, each course ye run !

Praise Him, ye winds and silent dews !

Praise Him, ye "sparks," that "flash the news !'

Praise Him, ye frost and spotless snow !

Praise Him, Oh, man ! where'er you go !

Now sing, ye children, one and all,

For God, at last, has heard my call ;

No longer, now, I feel forlorn,

But ready am to face the storm !

Will break the winter's furious blast

While you recite or sing in class ;

Will give you shade and keep you cool,

In "recess" of the summer's school:

One hundred years I'll faithful be,

To tell "The Story of the Tree,"

Whose life the "Board" has tried to save,

And keep me from a youthful grave.

Go forth, ye children, shout and sing,

And send your praise upon the wing

Of winds, or on the rays of dawn ;

And e'er the shades of night have drawn

Let praise arise to Him — Divine —

While earth revolves and stars shall shine.

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 53 presents a case which would have been quite a sur-
prise to most people. It is a good-sized Hickory tree, on the es-
tate of Mr. Wm. Rockefeller, Tarrytown, N. Y. The top of the
tree showed signs of failing. To a person not acquainted with
"tree troubles" there was no visible cause for the dying condi-
tion. It took but little time, however, to locate the cause of
"twig failure." It was found at the base of the trunk. Dead
bark on one side was the first "pointer." Following this "lead"
the discovery was what you can see for yourself in the photo-
graph: the whole center of the tree dead and had to be removed.

One of the things of interest in this work is the amazing
numbers of "live critters" that are found in these portions of a
diseased tree. It sounds almost paradoxical to say that a "dead"
trunk is "alive" with borers, grubs, beetles, ants and all kinds of
creeping things. Yet a moment's reflection satisfies one that
this is the natural order of affairs. Every living thing feeds on

Photo 53
Hickory Tree, Wm. Rockefeller estate, Tarrytown, N. Y.

66 THE TREE DOCTOR

death. There is a most beautiful economy in all the arrange-
ment of Nature. As soon as any one creature succumbs to
death, there are other creatures to prey upon it and hasten its
dissolution into the primary elements, so that it can be worked
over and put into some other form. To our senses there is a
strong aversion to the decay that follows death. We may pity
a diseased tree, but we certainly cannot admire it. But how

Photo 54
Cross Section of an Elm.

doubly interesting it is when we realize that vv'e can remove the
decay from an old forest friend, heal its wounds and restore it
to health and the charm of its youth !

The Chestnut in Photo 55 was filled three years ago, as was
also the Red Oak, showrn in Photo 56. See how nicely the new
lines are forming. There are a few cracks in the "filling," and
these cannot be avoided, as the swaying of the tree in the wind
will make some "elbows" in the most convenient places. These
cracks should be frequently painted to prevent water entering
and getting behind the cement. The thick paint found in the

THE TREE DOCTOR

bottom of old paint buckets is just the thing to work into the
crevices.

Photo 54 teaches a wonderful lesson. How nobly nature

Photo 55
New Lines Forming around Filling.

had struggled to repair the damage done to this tree ! Disease
had attacked and eaten away its whole center. This, as you will
see, is a cross section of an Elm tree. See how eagerly Nature —
unaided — has struggled, arching and curving, to straighten the

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 56
Keep Cracks of Filling well Painted.

weakened point ! To a sympathetic person this is pathetic. It
started to make repairs at the point where you see two bits of
paper tacked on, and, by actual measurement with the tape, it
has built enough new growth to have covered the wounded parts
more than three times. Is not this, though mute, a pathetic ap-
peal for "help?" Suppose, some twenty years ago. the decayed
matter had been removed and a filling properly put in, it would
have progressed in the "healing art," as you see in the several
cases herein shown, and notably in that presented in Photo 57,
and would have closed, as seen in Photo 58.

Good people, I would not advise you to spend money on all

THE TREE DOCTOR

old trees, but there may be some, situated where they are of con-
siderable value, or connected with some tender associations of
earlier days, that might justify the expense, though sometimes a
bill may run high on a work of this kind. Suppose, for example,
that the expense on a certain tree would be one hundred dollars,
and the work — skillfully done — would restore the beauty of the
tree and prolong its life for hundreds of years? Then, financi-
ally considered, the investment would be a good one. Two
years ago, J. Horace McFarland, President of the American
Civic Societies, wrote me that Prof. Sargent, of the Arboretum,
of Boston, had condemned "cement in trees." When in Boston,
I went into the parks and found that the professor was justified

Photo 57
When Properly Filled, all Trees will Heal.

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 58
This Wound has nearly Closed.

Photo 59
A few Years will Complete the Arch.

THE TREE DOCTOR

in making the condemnation (for I suppose he formed his opin-
ion from what he saw.) Any boy of ten could have done the
work as well. The professor, however, will undoubtedly be
pleased to learn that "cement work" is O. K. when the work is
properly done, as proven by the camera, in the photos herein
presented.

In Photo 59 are presented four beautiful specimens of the
Rock Maple. Three years ago some ten wagon loads of dead wood

Photo 60

Bridge grafting a large wound after removing a branch. Young grow-
ing twigs with wedge-shaped ends are inserted in spring, and
waxed, as in ordinary grafting. They will eventually unite.

were taken out of the tops. Two of them were badly "crotched,"
one of them being split clear to the ground. They were "fixed
up generally" and to-day the property is at least a thousand dol-
lars more valuable than it would have been without the service.
As to whether "tree doctoring" pays, it depends entirely on
whether the work is rightly done. I regret that many things
go into print that are misleading. I reproduce here two photos
from "The Window Gardener's Complete Manual" for January,
1907. Both photos have under them the exact reading that ap-
peared in the Magazine. Photo 60, as you see, explains "bridge
grafting." This is an ancient practice, hundreds of years old.

THE TREE DOCTOR

It is used to "bridge over" the cambium, where a young tree has
been "girdled" by rabbits, or from any other cause. These
scions, as shown in the photo, will grow, if the work is properly
executed. But what of that? It is a needless expense; for if
the wound be properly dressed and "capped" and kept painted
to keep out moisture, that is all that is required. Though a
needless expense, in this application, it is a practice worth know-
ing so that it can be used in cases of "girdling," etc. Photo 61
is, to use a slang phrase, a "corker." It shows either the utter
lack of knowledge of tree life on the part of the writer, or a woe-
ful absence of observation. Drive a chisel through the bark of
a tree and pry it up, and it would be possible for the bark to re-
unite, if it were bound back tight and all air excluded. The bark
might be perfectly connected above and below but if the least air
were admitted the bark would dry up and a new growth form
under it. If Mr. Watson, the writer of said article, will perform

Photo 61

Covering a big wound with new bark. Instead of waiting years for the
bark to close over; strips are cleft grafted.

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 62
Hard Maple with large, brushy Top.

a piece of bark grafting, and put it in charge of a committee ap-
pointed by a Florist's Club or Horticultural Society, and if, at
the end of six months there can be any life found in the grafted
bark we will say with Bill Nye : "The 'coming man1 has arived,"
and we will give due credit to Doubleday, Page & Co. for intro-
ducing "Elijah, the Third!"

WHAT KIND OF TREES FOR STREETS?

Not long ago I read a report of a superintendent of parks
in which he recommended thirty-seven varieties of trees for
street planting; all of them had some merits.

I aim to benefit the American people by pointing out the

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 63, A young Giant.

cause of the premature death of millions of trees and to suggest
the simplest methods of rectifying the mistakes.

To get an answer to the question "What kind of trees for
streets?" we should first settle in our minds what is the purpose
of street planting. Ask the first man you meet, and he prob-
ably will say "shade ;'' then ask the next, and inquire of all the

Those interested in shading the streets of cities should read "A
NEW ERA IN TREE GROWING." This shows how to shade the
streets of New York with perfectly healthy trees. I spent a week in
that city examining the conditions leading to the failures, and have given
the results of my investigations. To save going over the same ground
in the present work, I refer all interested in good trees on city streets
of "A NEW ERA IN TREE GROWING."

THE TREE DOCTOR

women and children, and the probabilities are, all will give you
the answer, "s-h-a-d-e !" Of course there are other con-
siderations with some people ; but, for the street, "shade" is the
first consideration.

With all the chances of observation that I have had, I am
convinced that there is no tree so well adapted for narrow or
medium width streets as the Norway Maple. It is commonly
supposed that it "heads" low down. It does, but it is not neces-
sary that it should. I have seen fine specimens with a bole
(trunk) of twenty feet before there was a single branch. Don't
be deceived when you purchase the trees. The Sycamore Maple
strongly resembles the Norway, but is "crotchy" and the wood
is brittle. The Norway, however, has tough wood and strong
lateral arms which seldom ever break. It has a very heavy, dark
green foliage, and is as near "bug-proof" as any. See the fine
specimen back of the telephone pole in Photo 74.

Photo 64
A "Hard" or "Sugar" Maple.

76 THE TREE DOCTOR

Next to the Norway Maple, I would suggest the far-famed
American Elm, particularly for wider streets. Saying nothing
of the possibility of age and size of this majestic tree, is there
anything more desirable than the charm and grace of what is
seen in Photo 17? The Elm will adapt itself to a greater variety
of soils than any tree that I am acquainted with. It will thrive
in sand, gravel or clay, provided it can obtain sufficient moisture.

"What about the Hard Maples?" Charming, glorious! if
they can be properly treated. Maples generally are spoken of
as "Hard" or "Soft" Maples. In speaking of the different va-
rieties of "Hard" Maples, I will omit the names and let the
camera show some difference in type. The large, brushy-top
tree in Photo 62 is a "Hard" or "Sugar" Maple; so is that in
63, and also in 64. The character of each one is quite marked,
but the most desirable type is that in 63. Look at its firm, lateral
arms. A veritable young giant, standing there ready to grapple
with the fiercest gales !

Next in order I would suggest the Sycamore. The Ameri-
can variety is hardy, adapts itself to almost any kind of soil, is
attacked but little by insect pests, and is one of the strongest
built trees we have. It seldom ever has a "crotch," but pro-
duces strong lateral arms, attached to the bole with a very firm
"shoulder." The European variety ("Plane Tree") is, perhaps,
a handsomer tree than the native variety. The "Pin Oak" has
recently gained great notoriety. It is a magnificent tree and
grows to a large size. If you introduce these into your commun-
ity, see that the local "Tree man" is banished or imprisoned be-
fore you plant them, or he will "whack" the tops off, destroying
the "leader" and ruin the tree as he did in Photo 65.

The "White Oak!" How majestic! Don't plant the Lin-
dens and "Soft" Maples on streets, they are too frail ; nor the
drooping Linden ("Lime Tree"). How beautiful they are!
Just the thing on a lawn or in a park, with branches drooping
quite on the ground. See Photos 34 and 88. These are very
"crotchy," and I never saw a large one (in this country) that
had not been injured by the wind.

"Carolina Poplar?" Oh, don't ever mention it unless it be
to plant around your barnyard !

I have mentioned a few of the very best trees suitable for

THE TREE DOCTOR

street planting. Add others, if you 'desire, such as the Horse-
Chestnut ; or better still the American "Buckeye." They look
very much alike, but the leaf of the Buckeye is smaller, and the
wood tough, and the tree strongly built. The Liquid Amber, or
Sweet Gum tree is a very good one. The Ash is pretty but not

Photo 65
With Top Gone, the Tree is Destroyed.

desirable for the street. I often see Mulberries, June-berries,
and the like planted on the street. It is no place for them.

"What distance apart should street trees be planted?" That
depends on the kind of tree, width of the street, character of the
soil, etc. Never closer than twenty-five feet. If the street be
wide and the soil good, plant from thirty to sixty feet apart.
Does that astonish you? Well, just take a look at the "big
Elms" in New Haven and Hartford, Conn., and at Framingham,
Mass., and scores of other New England towns. Those early set-

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 66
Horse-Chestnut, W. B. Dickerman estate, Mamaroneck, N. Y.

tiers knew the character of trees, and "spaced" them correctly to
bring the best results. I often see ten trees where there should
be only one, and this is particularly true in lawns and private
grounds. It is all right to plant thick if you desire to "group"
or "clump" them, with a view to producing woodland effects,
or shutting off unsightly objects, etc.

But look at the Horse-Chestnut. in Photo 66. This is on
the, grounds of Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Dickerman. Mamaroneck,
X. Y. These wise people have preserved about all the trees on
the spacious lawn in this charming condition. "Johnny Garey,"
who is seen with his old friend "Deak," takes great pride in pre-
serving those beautiful specimens in accord with the wishes of
the proprietors.

To avoid too thick planting, you must use your own judg-
ment. Commonly, in purchasing a bill of plants, the person takes
the advice of the man with the big book of cuts ; and he. in
order to sell, proceeds to tell all the lies in his note-bok, plus all

THE TREE DOCTOR

that are known to the hustling tree agent profession. Can you
blame him? As the Quaker said, he is "looking after his end of
the bargain ; but thee shouldst look after thine."

When the trees are allowed to grow with the branches rest-
ing on the ground, it produces conditions for the perfect health
of the tree. It destroys all sod and other vegetable growth, and
millions of "feeders" are formed near the surface. Look at
Photo 67. It has the appearance of a lot of little bits of sticks
lying on the ground, but these are roots ; they have grown there
because the moisture is formed there — on hot days — from con-
densation. The air, also, freely circulates among them, keeping
the roots in a state of good health. It is late spring and the
buds are unfolding, and you can see where the tips of the
branches hang; the sod is formed out beyond that. There is
nothing more interesting in the whole study of tree life than the
conduct of the roots.

Photo 67
A Condition for perfect Health.

THE TREE DOCTOR

In Photo 68 you have the view of a very fine Hickory tree.
There is something very commanding and expressive in the ap-
pearance of this individual, and it is more so when you approach
it and find that, to all appearances, it is growing right out of a
huge rock. Photo 69 shows you the base of the tree. A tree
has a something almost analogous to consciousness. The nut

Photo 68
Hickory Tree growing on Huge Rock.

dropped down in the crevice germinated, and the little "feeders"
reached out after the tiny drops of water that were condensed
by the rock on hot days. Then they hid themselves under the
decaying leaves and dust. Silently they crept down, down, till
they got out among the fragments of the rocks. Now, if you
draw on your imagination, you can almost hear the little twigs
shout, "All right below?" To which the answer is given by the
"working roots," "O. K. below ; we will mine for raw material
here and send it up, and you mind your knitting up there, manu-

THE TREE DOCTOR

facture the cambium and hustle it down for our support." Thus
the two extremities have co-operated and constructed an object
of utility and beauty.

One of the commonest mistakes is made by being too much
in a hurry, and insisting on having big trees planted. . Now don't
understand me as saying that large trees cannot be moved.

Photo 69
Base of Hickory Tree.

for they can, and the work can be done with perfect success, pro-
vided you save the "feeding roots ;" but to do this often involves
big expense, more than most people are willing to pay ; but there
are any number of "Tree men" hungry for a job who will under-
take such work at figures which are utterly impossible and do it
right. They "slight the work to save themselves." This is
wrong all around. I see hundreds of trees every summer stand-
ing dead that have been moved and "guaranteed" to live.

If you will thrust a spade down into the ground, just under
the tips of the branches, you will find large quantities of fibrous
6

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 70
Usual Method of Transplanting.

Photo 71
Dead Branches Show the Result.

THE TREE DOCTOR

roots. "Are these the feeders?" No, but the little feeding
"hair roots" are situated on these. They are usually so small
that it takes a microscope to see them. All nourishment must
be gathered by these faithful little "workers." These, as all
know who know anything about tree life, are scattered all over
the ends of the roots. To insure success, enough of the small
rootlets must be procured to furnish the "raw material" for the
tree or it will languish, dry up and die. Suppose you were going
to move one of Mr. French's Peach trees, seen in Photo 92. It
could be done, but how do you proceed to figure? Well, let's
see ; the diameter of the top is about sixteen feet. That is prac-
tically what the spread of the roots is, (they really run out much
farther.) Now to make sure of perfect success, you would throw

Photo 72
The Bark finally Peels off.

THE TREE DOCTOR

a line around the trunk of the tree, measure off eight feet and
draw a circle sixteen feet in diameter, work under the roots, lift
and move the tree into a hole, say eighteen feet in diameter. Do
the "Tree men" proceed in that way? Not many of them. If they
dig at a distance of three feet from the tree, giving a six-foot root
spread, they think they are doing a great thing. But they thus
destroy at least ninety per cent, of the "feeders."

Photo 73
Use Small Trees for Planting.

Photo 70 gives a view of how the work is usually done.
Nine-tenths of the large trees that I have seen transplanted are
practically grubbed out. A couple years later you can pull them
out of the ground in a condition much as the one the group are
inspecting. When the "feeders" are left behind, what part of the
tree is the first to suffer? The central portion. The chunk of
a branch lying on the stand, in Photo 71, shows how it becomes
affected. Dead twigs over and through the top tell the story of
its sad fate. A tree thus abused, with only a tenth to a fiftieth
enough moisture supplied, cannot stand the hot days of July and

THE TREE DOCTOR 85

August, and the bark dries up on the side toward the hottest sun,
and finally peels off, as you see in Photo 72. But look how the
poor creature has worked and plodded, all alone, with no one to
pity but the eyes of the Infinite, to try to live! Oh, mar-
velous something that we call "Life!" So tenacious of life are

Photo 74
The Norway Maple Is as near Bug-Proof as any Tree.

these wonderful creatures that they will, sometimes, go plodding
along for years and, finally, heal over a mass of dried up, dead
wood ; but the result is a hollow tree, likely to blow over on your
house some stormy night.

Unless it be an urgent need, I would not use a big tree at all,
for planting or transplanting, because in planting the small one,

86 THE TREE DOCTOR

(say about the size of a broom handle,) you are almost sure of
success. Photo 73 gives a glimpse of two rows of young "Rock
Maples," set six years ago. Not one failed on the whole street.
This will become, in time, equally as beautiful as the single row
shown in Photo 25. See the heavy-foliage Norway Maple, (be-
hind the pole) in Photo 74. This has been planted about forty
years, and the diameter of the top is over fifty feet.

Atiyone who has passed the meridian of life is conscious
how rapidly the years go by. There are but few things that are
more pleasurable and profitable than the intelligent, judicious
planting of trees for posterity ; but when you plant, use the small
tree, and the result will be a perfect one.

Did you ever notice the different forms of Apple trees? The
lessons they give are very suggestive and instructive. Take,
for example, the old-fashioned, long "Sheep-Nose" apple ; the
form of the tree is strikingly like the fruit, viz. : elongated and
pointed. As the opposite of that, examine a Rhode Island

Photo 75
Roots of a Rock Maple.

THE TREE DOCTOR

Greening apple, and the tree from whence it came, and you will
learn that the tree is somewhat flat and spreading; in other
words, it is about the form of the fruit.

You are acquainted with the "tap roots" of Hickories, Chest-
nuts, Oaks and some other trees ; the long, leading roots that
have a tendency to go straight down, corresponding to tops
which, when "crowded," will run to great heights. Contrasted
with that type, take the roots of the Rock Maple, seen in Photo
75; how interesting! This is the base of the charming Maple
seen in Photo 14. See how firmly it grasps the soil. Contrasted
with the former, see the difference in the root form of Photo 76.
This is a Pin Oak. and the division of the roots into many -small
ones is in harmony with the. multitude of small branches of the
top, and also of the fine-cut leaf.

Oh, wonderful creation ! But, oh, pitiable man ! so unwise,
so blind to his own interests as to learn so few of the infinite

Photo 76
Roots of a Pin Oak.

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 77
Roots of Trees Correspond in Form to Tops.

number of lessons which are daily spread before his self-closed
eyes.

Turn to Photo 77. This shows an excavation in a sand-
bank. Above is standing an Apple tree about twenty-five years
old. This is very light, porous soil, and there are strong roots
found here, fourteen feet from the surface, and the tips of these
roots are probably ten feet or more further down. Probably
if the soil were sufficiently deep, and thoroughly porous, the
roots would plunge down or spread out to almost the exact form
and dimensions of the top. In Sandusky, O., I saw where a
ditch was being dug close by some Elm trees. It was loose soil,
about one-half fragmentary lime-stone rocks. This soil was full
of Elm roots, arid when the solid rock was reached, five feet from
the surface, there was a perfect, matted, net-work of roots,*
completely covering the bed rock.

See Page 59, "PRIMER ON TREES AI^D BIRDS."

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 78
With Roots near the Surface, Windstorms play Havoc.

While an Elm will plunge deep into the soil, as just de-
scribed, yet in swampy lands it will keep its roots just below
the surface, and so the wind will topple it over, as you see in
Photo 78. In swampy lands at a certain depth the water stands
all the year round. As the roots reach this depth the voice of
the tree cries out : "Hold on, boys ; don't venture farther down,
or you'll drown, sure as fate!" So they do the next best thing;
they swing off laterally but, having no depth of soil, the tree
becomes a prey to the howling winds.

In this "prosperous" epoch, thousands of people have "made
money," and with the purest desires and most laudable purposes
have gone out into the rural districts and purchased woodland
property, with a view to living among the trees. The first con-
sideration is the house ; the architect produces the plans which
are finally accepted. Now comes the "Landscape Architect ;"
he is consulted and the grounds put in his charge. It is with

90 THE TREE DOCTOR

pleasure that I testify that America has some of the finest land-
scape gardeners in the world, but there are others whose quali-
fications consist in a common education, an office in some "sky-
scraper/' some clerks to draw curved and straight lines, and
make pretty pictures on paper. With this superficial and arti-
ficial education they sally forth, procure contracts, and proceed
with "filling,." any way from one to ten feet deep on the roots
of trees ! They complete their job, receive their pay, secure a
"testimonial," hunt up the next honest person and repeat the
same destruction of property. At all those places where they
have performed the art of "filling in" around trees, a year later
they begin to look sickly ; and but few people seem to compre-
hend that the roots are dying, smothering to death ! To save a
beautiful White Oak, in Pittsburg. I had to order the "filling"
removed twelve feet from the tree (twenty-four feet diameter).
The roots had been buried six feet deep ! Think of that, as the
work of a "landscape architect!"

Large trees can be raised or lowered, not only without in-
jury, but often proving highly beneficial, provided the roots are
preserved and fed.

CHAPTER III

RAIN MAKING— How PLANTS AKE FED -PEAR BLIGHT AND OTHER
BLIGHTS— BLIGHTS THE RESULT OF PREVIOUS INJURIES— PEACH
YELLOWS AND OTHER TROUBLES— PREVENTION NOT CURE
PRUNING THE PEACH -THE GRAPE VINE— DESTRUC-
TION OF THOUSANDS OF TONS OF GRAPES ANNU-
ALLY—IMPROPER AND PROPER METHODS
OF PRUNING — THE " RESERVOIR '
SYSTEM FOR SUPPLYING TREES
WITH WATER— THE RATH-
BONE ELM— WONDERS
OF CREATIVE
FORESTS.

RAIN MAKING.

I predict not only "a New Era in Tree Growing" but a New
Epoch in Agriculture. As discussed toward the end of this
work, the people, probably fifty per cent, of them, must "go back
to the land." Whether we undertake to grow garden or field
crops, flowers, shrubs or trees, next to the life-giving rays of the
sun, rain is the one essential thing on which we depend. What
is rain? "Why, falling drops of water from the clouds." Fool-
ish question to ask, is it not? No, not entirely, because rain
can be better defined by saying, "it is condensation of moisture."
Fog, vapor, steam in the kitchen or from the locomotive, mists,
etc., are essentially the same as thunder-storms. They are all
formed in the same way, viz ; the moisture in the air comes in
contact with a cold substance and is condensed. Whether it be
the almost invisible drop in steam, or the larger drop in mist,
or the half ounce, pelting little globes in the thunder-storm, they
were all formed in the same way, by condensing invisible mois-
ture. The size of the drop depends on other combined agencies.
On every square inch of the earth's surface — at sea-level — we are
told, there is about fifteen pounds of atmospheric pressure. Go

(91)

THE TREE DOCTOR

into some people's corn or potato fields and, behold ! you could
not drive a crow-bar into the soil in July or August. No matter
how much moisture there may be in the air, how can it pene-
trate the ground, and condense in particles of water for the roots
of the plant, under such conditions? It is impossible; and the
crops famish. Haul a load of hot, dry sand and place it in a
heap on this same baked soil. Two days afterward thrust your
hand into it and you will find moisture. How did it get there?
Why, as soon as the particles cooled off, the air penetrated the

Photo 79, Rainmakers.

sand, and every tiny little grain became a condenser. Bring a
basket of potatoes out of the cellar, on a warm, spring day, and
in fifteen minutes they will be "sweating." "Why? They are
cold, and condense the moisture of the warm air. Same expla-
nation for the mouth of your pump "sweating" as you force the
cold water through it. Same answer for the "sweating" of the
ice-water pitcher, and all the "sweatings" on stone floors, cel-
lar-walls, etc.

There is a kind of a paradox in the question of a water sup-
ply for crops. In heavy lands, it is absolutely necessary to take
the water away in order to procure a supply. That is, you take

THE TREE DOCTOR

away the surplus water in order that you may be able to plow
and till the soil and thereby admit and condense what is in the
air, for the constant use of the plant. The crying need, for
the heavy lands, is "drainage." Ten million dollars in Ohio,
alone, would only be a fair beginning of what ought to be in-
vested for first-class underdrainage ; and nothing would pay bet-

Photo 80, Yielding Abundantly.

ter. Then your "rain-makers" could be put into operation.
You can see them in Photo 79. Photo 80 shows a piece of land
that had been "skinned to death." It was purchased by Mr. J.
E. French, Wickliff, O. First thing was underdrainage ; then
they could go in on it and work it. Rye and other green crops
were plowed under ; manure, lime, etc., put on, and here, at the
end of three years, is the reward: Corn fourteen feet high!

94 THE TREE DOCTOR

The agricultural lands of America are waiting not for "hogs"
but farmers ; those who understand soils and drainage, and who,
from the bottom of their hearts, in good old Grange style, can
shout, "Three cheers for the plow, spade and hoe !"

PEAR BLIGHT.

I repeat here what I stated in the old "Tree Doctor,"
namely ; that peculiar class of maladies, which we call "blight,"
does not "attack" and "kill" any tree or plant. Wise men
sneered at the assertion. Did not everybody know better? Did
not everyone see Pear trees "blighted?" Had not every ruralist
seen whole fields of potatoes swept by the "blight?" Had not
Prof. Wait examined "pear blight," named the bacteria, placed
it in "culture," described its life and habits? But, readers, is it
not true that all who have discovered and named the microbes
of the various "blights" have said in plain words (or language
that would imply the same), "These attack and kill the tree?"
(or plant.) The impression that is left by all reading that I
ever ran across on the subject is that these little foes "attack"
and "kill," just the same as a burglar would "attack" and break
windows and doors of a house, then enter and "kill." This is
a grave error.

Do not our leading physicians all claim that microbes of
every disease are existing all the while in the air? One said to
me: "If I were to subject the saliva on your tongue to micro-
scopic inspection I would find there germs of all diseases com-
mon to this locality ;" and Dr. Kellogg remarks that a perfectly
healthy stomach will actually digest and make food of those
minute creatures. Therefore, as to whether an individual or a
community is "attacked" by the microbes of any "disease," will
depend upon whether we have sinned. "Sin is the transgression
of the law." The laws of Nature are the laws of God. Health
is the normal condition. If we overwork, underwork, drink that
which is injurious, act the glutton, or in any way "transgress"
law, we pay the penalty. If the function of any organ of the
body is disused or misused, dead matter is formed, and on this
dead matter the microbes feed. They have a right to do this;
that's what they are for.

THE TREE DOCTOR

When anyone writes or speaks of the germs of pear
blight "attacking" a tree, he is presenting a grave question in a
very erroneous and misleading manner. The "attacks/' so-
called, of the microbes are only after an injury has been inflicted
by some other cause. The whole tops of Pear trees may be
frozen and turn black ; in consequence of this all the cells in the
leaf are ruptured. In the decayed matter of those dead leaves
you have the feeding ground for the germs of the "blight," so-
called. A portion of the bark may become scalded in the hot

Photo 81
A Story of "Blight."

sun with the same result. The tree might be standing on a
southern exposure in light, sandy soil, and might start into bloom
too soon, be nipped with frost and show what is sometimes
termed "bloom-blight." It might so lack water in this hot, dry
situation, that a part of the twigs die in July or August. This
is called "tAvig-blight." In none of these cases does this mi-
crobe produce what you see and call "blight." Some injury is
first inflicted, then they take possession and have a right to.
Their working on such leaves or injured branches, adjacent to
the sound portions, undoubtedly will augment and intensify the
trouble.

Photo 81 tells a story about "blight." A field of potatoes,
planted June 15th ; land plowed, worked — all the same ; same

96 THE TREE DOCTOR

seed, same cultivation. The field, a stiff clay, lacked fertilizer.
August, hot and dry ; the plants worked, pumped, struggled,
drew all the water from the soil. One by one the leaves
drooped, faded, turned black; a veritable case of "blight!" Mil-
lions of billions of microbes at work ! Of course they were !
Fools if they didn't when they found such a glorious opportunity.
The dead stalk, to the left, with four little potatoes, was above
the average yield of the field. But at one end of the field was
quite a lesson. A few vegetable pits had been dug — two feet
deep — the fall before. The following spring the straw, leaves
and all such rubbish were thrown in and plowed under. While
the main field perished of thirst in August, all plants standing
over those old vegetable pits went on growing, growing, grow-
ing till October 8th, when a frost killed them. A plant was dug
the next morning and the tubers under it are shown, together

Photo 82
Potatoes on Clay Soil.

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 83
Healthy Bodies Uncongenial to Germs of Disease.

with the frost-bitten top, in the right of the photo. To sum the
matter up, freeze or otherwise kill the foliage, and your "feed-
ing" roots die. Or kill the "feeders" and your top must perish;
there is nothing to keep it alive, they "blight" sure as fate.
Can't you almost hear the buglers of the armies of those
"blight" germs that float in the air, tooting merrily: "Away!
away ! for here's decay ! Potato tops are dead as hay." Rea-
sonings on the problem have not been sound. They have been
just as correct as the fellow who found the carcass of a horse in
the ditch, in summer, and declared: "The flies killed that
animal ; the proof is that the body is full of maggots !" The
facts were that something killed the horse, and because he was
dead, therefore it was the appropriate feeding place for the mag-
gots. If you have a case of "potato blight," ascertain if the soil
is too wet, and the roots have drowned. If so, underdrain the

98 THE TREE DOCTOR

field. Is it "dry rot" (or "dry blight") ? Then the field probably
needs some "green crops" plowed under and other fertilizers
and possibly subsoiling to give depth for the roots.

No "blight" is seen in the pieee of potatoes shown in Photo
82. Though that is clay soil, it is underdrained, subsoiled, and
well manured. Germs of disease cannot grow on a healthy
body. The Hydrangeas in Photo 83 teach the same lesson. If
it has root protection, the young plant usually has the freshest
foliage. In this case, however, one by one, the leaves have

Photo 84
W. I. Chamberlain, Hudson, Ohio.

dropped off, because the little flower pot (like millions of others)
has been again and again subjected to undue heat and lack of
water. But see how robust the larger one is in the big tub of
earth. This does not dry out, therefore the vigorous foliage in
which all the new wood is manufactured. How long will it take
the world to learn that the top can be no better than the root,
or the root any stronger than the top ?

Among the successful apple-growers is W. I. Chamberlain,
Hudson. O. The gentleman is seen in Photo 84. He "makes
money" out of this orchard, though it is on clay land. P>ut it is
underdrained, and is plowed once a year. Oats, Hungarian
grass, Cow-Peas or some other crop is raised and, toward fall,

THE TREE DOCTOR

cut and thrown under the trees to prevent the falling apples
from bruising'. Four years ago, all around Kent, ()., Apple trees
had what people called "twig-blight." It is produced in the
following manner : The orchard lands are covered with a sod ; the
roots come near the surface competing with the roots of the
grass for the moisture of summer rains. Being thus brought

Photo 85
The Feeder Roots are just Under the Drip of the Branches.

near the surface, the warm sun incites the roots to action pre-
maturely in spring. This forces out the buds too early. Then,
in May, there is usually a "dry spell." All growth, then, comes
nearly to a standstill. In June come the copious rains, accom-
panied by a high temperature, and I have seen Apple trees shoot
out, all over their tops, twigs ten or twelve inches long in ten
days. Then comes the dry weather, the roots become parched;
the tree cannot carry all the new growth, and most of these ten-
der, spasmodic shoots perish because it is utterly impossible for
the tree to sustain them. Now the howl goes up, "The Apple
trees are 'attacked' by 'twig-blight !' "

100

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 86
Among the Trees and Vines.

Any dead crop, plant or tree that has been killed with too
much water, want of water, frost or any cause will be "attacked"
with millions or, perhaps, countless billions of bacteria called
"disease.''

A century ago, and previous to that time, England was af-
flicted with "rust" in wheat and other grain crops, and also
"moulds," "mildew," and such fungoid growths, until they com-
menced to underdrain and subsoil her wet-lands. Following
her improvements in Agriculture came healthy crops, and the
"diseases" just named largely disappeared because no "disease"
can get a root-hold on a perfectly healthy leaf or plant. Create
depth of soil, feed and keep the root of your plant or tree
healthy, and none of the "diseases" will "attack" the visible parts
because there is no possible way in which they can grow on
healthy foliage. Tops that are "blasted" by chilly winds or
"cut" by frosts are things over which we have but little control.

If a tree or plant is attacked by "leaf-eating" worms or

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101

Photo 87
Sweeping the Ground.

beetles, it is another problem. But even in such cases, scien-
tists tell us that the parent lays her eggs on the weakest plants,
just as the fish goes into the shallow stream to spawn, from an
instinct of safety to her young. Nine-tenths of your victory is
won in having a healthy plant. "Pear blight," so-called, can be
avoided by planting on eastern, western or northern slopes,
avoiding the southern ; and, above all things, give it a clay soil.
If you have sandy soil, excavate a hole six feet in diameter and
four feet deep, and fill, not with "raw clay," but with a clay
loam. Keep the tree cultivated, and all dead branches and twigs
cut out, as they appear, and you will have no serious trouble
with "Pear blight." The climate of Great Britain is just right
for the pear. In the too-hot or too-cold or changeable climate
of the United States, it will always be subjected to more or less
injury.

102

THE TREE DOCTOR

PEACH YELLOWS, ETC.

What is "Peach yellows?" Nobody seems to know. The
most reliable, practical and scientific botanists have been em-
ployed by the U. S. Agricultural Department to give the sub-
ject a thorough investigation. They all agree in one thing,
namely; "there is nothing in the disease that can be recognized
as a living organism."

Nine-tenths of what is supposed to be "yellows" (perhaps
ninety-nine hundredths) is starved or dried-up trees, or lack of
potash or some mineral in the soil. The peach, like the pear,
develops the flower before the leaf-bud is fully expanded. In
warm winters, in north temperate latitudes, peaches are often
brought forward too early and severely injured. Here, the peach
ought to be coming into bloom from the twentieth of April to
the first of May. In 1885, on the eleventh of March, peach trees

Photo 88
The Linden is Beautiful.

THE TREE DOCTOR

103

were in full bloom, about as those seen in Photo 91. That day
the weather changed. Six days after, the thermometer stood
eighteen degrees below zero. The result can be imagined!

A neighbor of mine has been a successful peach-grower for
about forty years. His farm is situated on a high altitude. On
the night of the sixteenth and seventeenth of May, 1895, there
was a veritable freeze. Two inches of water standing in a
wash-tub froze solid and bulged up in the middle. My friend,
usually considered located "above late frosts," was caught this

Photo 89, Elm Leaf.

Photo 90, Wonderfully Made.

Photo 91, In full Bloom.

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105

time. The next year the "yellows" appeared and nearly all this
valuable orchard was dug out inside of two years.

I will make a suggestion by raising a question. Is it pos-
sible that a heavy freeze, at a certain stage of growth, by rup-
turing the protoplasmic cells of the new cambium layer, or the
cells of the wood, or those of the foliage, or all combined, would
so poison the system of the tree by the flow of this contaminated
matter as to debilitate the whole, producing what would be
equivalent to blood-poisoning? But all people are more inter-
ested in the following practical question:

HOW CAN I HAVE A HEALTHY PEACH TREE?

In Photo 02 you have what is as near perfection in peach
growing as you would find. This is at the summer home of Mr.
J. E. French, Wickliff, O. The gentleman is seen to the right.

Photo 92
Fruit Farm of J. E. French, Wickliff, Ohio.

106 THE TREE DOCTOR

Mr. Ferry, the superintendent, to the left, is one of the most
practical fruit-growers whom I have met. He says he heads off
"leaf curl" by pulling away the earth around each tree and put-
ting about a peck of wood ashes to each one. These trees re-
tain their foliage till late in October, after forest trees have be-
come defoliated. With this prolonged season of "breathing,"
they go into the winter period of "rest," and are not in a hurry
to unfold their fat, plump buds till the spring is fairly opened.
Peach trees with a heavy sod around them, or otherwise starved,
will often throw their leaves in August, and then, as moister
weather comes on, start out a foliage from the buds that should
have been held over for the following spring. This is very
weakening to the tree, but it is a case of "the least of two evils ;"
if it did not do this it would die.

If you would understand the peach, proceed as with every
other tree or plant, and enquire: "Where is its home?" The
"home" of the peach, we are told, is on the table-lands of Persia,
on the plateau of Iran. You have the "home ;" what are the sur-
roundings? The Caspian Sea on the north, the Indian Ocean on
the south, and the Persian Gulf swinging in round the west. Here
you have the modifying influences of three bodies of water plus
an altitude of some five thousand feet above sea-level. If you
will take the pains to look at your map, I think you will find that
its "home" is in a latitude that would take in Tennessee. How
can we expect, then, that a tree adapted to such a latitude, and
at a high altitude, can be carried five hundred or a thousand miles
farther north, planted on sea-level, on southern slopes, abused,
neglected, budded from saplings — instead of matured trees — and
escape the maladies to which it has fallen a victim ? It is a
marvel that it lives at all.

Don't plant the peach on lowlands, or on muck-lands, or
heavy clay. Take a northern slope if you can ; if not, eastern or
western, not southern, because the tree will be apt to start too
early in spring. In planting orchards, drain (heavy lands) and
subsoil. For a few trees dig a hole four feet in diameter and
three feet dee]), fill with old sods and good soil. After trees get
started (in orchards), plow every spring, but not closer than a
perpendicular line with the tops of spreading branches. Work
under the branches with disk-harrow, hoe or other implement.

THE TREE DOCTOR 107

Keep well cultivated till first of August. Then sow oats.
These will make a good growth by fall, will dry the ground by
pumping out the moisture, and the frost will then kill them (I
am speaking of northern latitudes), and they will lie flat on the
ground, and the roots of the trees, thus protected, will not be
killed by freezing, as they were in Northern Ohio and Michigan
in the winter of 1903-4. If planted on a northern slope (this is
to hold them back in spring) a crop can be expected every
season.

PRUNING.

This is not generally understood. If properly planted, the
young trees make rapid growth and they keep on shooting out
from the terminal, or end buds. Photo 93 shows how to handle
the peach. You notice the shoot (this is last year's wood) that
has the knife hung on it. Below where the knife is fastened,
down to the left, are five fruit-buds ; above the knife are six. If
you cut off where the knife marks, as in the other sample, the

Photo 93
Prune Where Knife Hangs.

108

THE TREE DOCTOR

branch would then have more than it should be allowed to carry.
Down still lower, below where the wrapping is fastened on, are
several ''wood-buds.'' When the top is removed, these lower
wood-buds are forced into growth, and thus, if you desire, you
can hold your Peach tree down low, in bush form ; or you can
run the original "leader" up five or six feet from the ground, and
form a compact head by following the suggestions just given.
In cutting off one-half of the fruit-buds, as here shown, you will
have just as much fruit in weight, and the perfection and size of
it will command from fifty to one hundred per cent, more in
price.

THE GRAPE-VINE.

What a wonderful creature is this vine! Preached of and
sung of in all ages. How one would like to "make a little
speech" in its behalf! But it needs no introduction; it is here
and here to stay. The people want to know how to procure its
fruit. The camera will give you a few lessons ; you should then
increase your knowledge by reading and observation.

Photo 94
A neglected Vineyard.

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109

Photo 95
Vineyard of a "lucky" Grape-grower.

Photo 94 gives a glimpse of the vineyard of an "unlucky"
grape-grower. Photo 95 presents a view of the "lucky" grape-
grower (Mr. Geo. Urban, Wickliff, O.) The "bad luck" of
the one arose from planting and expecting a crop without work-
ing for it. Mr. Urban is a practical man. He fully understands
that, if you desire potatoes, cabbage, corn, apples, peaches,
grapes and, indeed, anything, you must prepare the soil, plant
and take care of it. and Nature will reward abundantly, as is
shown in Photo 96.

The "Tree Butcher" of the average community is also a
"Grape-vine fool." He has read or heard from some source that
the Grape-vine "should be cut back to one or two eyes," and all
he knows about "trimming" the Grape-vine is to go "clip,"
"snip," "clip," present his bill and collect his money, for what?
For destroying your crop of grapes !

Do you see anything wrong with the work presented in
Photo 97? Probably not. That part to the left is thoroughly
"clipped" and neatly tied, but the fruit is gone. All the fruit-

110

THE TREE DOCTOR

bearing canes — the last year's growth — have been cut off!
(Think of the wisdom of this "Grape-fool!") One of the fruit-
bearing canes was picked up and wound around and hung up so
that you can see it. It has twenty-one nice, plump, fat "eyes"
or buds, and each bud would produce one, two, or three bunches
of grapes.

The same simpletons who have ruined the trees of the towns

Photo 96
An abundant Reward.

and cities of this country destroy not less than two hundred
thousand tons of grapes annually ; for the average mechanic and
farmer copies their destructive methods, honestly thinking it is
all right because the "Tree man" does it that way.

A year ago, Mr. T. G. Parsons, lumber merchant, Kent, O.,
sent for me. He had been unable to get grapes for six years.
I showed him his error, and he preserved the new canes, and
tied them up, as you see in Photo 98. He recently told me : "I

THE TREE DOCTOR 111

have seen beautiful pictures in catalogs and magazines, but
never saw anything equal the excellence of my crop of grapes
last fall." You should cut out about half of the weakest canes and
all old, dead wood, and cultivate the soil, allowing no weeds to
grow, and you will get grapes. They will grow in almost any
soil, except wet muck-land, or heavy, soggy clay.

Probably the finest quality of grapes is grown in the "grape
region," stretching from Cleveland to Willoughby, O. While

Photo 97
All the Fruit-bearing Canes Cut Off.

this is mostly clay land it is underlaid by a shale rock. The sys-
tem of pruning followed by the grape-growers of the lake-front
region may be called "a balanced method." They remove, prob-
ably, from half to two-thirds of the last year's growth. The
remainder produces the fine crop shown in Photo 96, and still
leaves the plant with reserved power enough to force out the
new growth for the following year.

If you have old vines, on which there is no bearing wood,
take a saw and cut them off close to the ground in December or
January, and paint the wounds. Remove all weeds from near
the old "crown." In the following season it will grow up a

112

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 98, Properly Pruned.

number of vigorous canes. Train these carefully where you
want them, or the strongest of them, (you will do well to pull off
the weak ones) and the year after this you will have grapes that
will "scare the natives." You will then have a new vine good
for years to come. The grape does not require a very rich soil,
but a little hen-manure or bone-meal will be helpful in poor
lands.

In treating of the grape thus far I have urged the necessity
of not allowing sod to grow around the vines. I know how peo-
ple admire a good, heavy, green sward (none more than I do),
but we must face the facts if we are to procure trees, vines or
shrubs. Every tree is entitled to all the land it occupies, (out as
far as the drip of the branches), but if you must have socl, plant
less trees, but have a few good specimens instead of r\ lot of half-
dead ones. In the last few years I have introduced what we call
"the reservoir system," to save the sod and yet give a supply of
water where a tree is suffering for lack of moisture. People of-
ten "water the tree." as they suppose, by sprinkling the lawn.
The grass usually takes up every particle of such water, and the
tree goes on "perishing by inches," pleading, crying, "water!
water !"

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113

Mr. W. C. Talmadge, Wickliff, O., has the largest, most ma-
jestic Elm on "The Ridge," running from Cleveland to Paines-
ville. The top was giving out, the lawn was kept littered with
dead twigs. He sent for me to ascertain what was the trouble.
The test, in Photo 99, showed the soil "as dry as a powder horn."
The faithful tree had labored and pumped every particle of mois-
ture out of the ground. This was being repeated year after year.
The rains were not heavy enough in the fall to penetrate the sod
and reach the roots, and as a result, a grand old monarch, for
which the owner would not take five thousand dollars, was in
imminent danger of dying. To save this tree we put in fifty of

Photo 99
As Dry as a Powder Horn.

114

THE TREE DOCTOR

our "reservoirs," and the result was the building of an entire new
top. How much better to spend a few dollars than to lose a tree
that it has taken Nature a hundred and fifty years to build ! You
can get an idea of how the "reservoirs" are put in by Photo 100.
A piece of sod, say a foot square, is removed ; then a hole is dug,
widening as it deepens until there is a cavity about the size of a
bushel basket. The hole is filled to within six inches of the top
with brickbats or stones. A piece of inch-and-a-quarter gas
pipe, six inches long, is held in the middle of the hole while ce-
ment is being placed around it and over the stone. (Keep a
plug in the upper end of the pipe to exclude dirt). Leave a hole

Photo 100
Placing the Reservoirs.

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115

Photo 101
An Effort to make Poplars Branch out.

about three inches deep around the pipe for soil and sod. The
soil should be tamped in and the sod pounded down, and every-
thing" kept away so that the cement will not loosen while it is
setting-. The end of the gas pipe comes through the sod, but on
a level with it, so as not to interfere with the lawn mower. To
water the tree, stick the nozzle of the hose into the pipe and let
the water run until it overflows.

The ground under the Talmadge Elm was so dry that it
took over three hundred gallons of water the first day the reser-
voirs were used. During one season they give this tree up-
wards of three hundred barrels of water. This, together with
bracing it, will probably prolong the life of this remnant of the
native forest for a hundred years — possibly two hundred.

The dying condition of the top may not be caused by the
want of water. It may be from too much water; or, more likely,
from a "deep rilling" at the time of "grading.' Whichever of

116 THE TREE DOCTOR

these three causes the trouble might spring from, the result pro-
duced on the tree is much the same. In every case the "hair
roots," (that is, the real "feeders,"') are first destroyed, resulting
in the death of the larger ones. The supply of "raw material"
being cut off, of course the "factories" (the leaves) close, and be-
come a habitation of the disease germs constantly floating in
the air. Then the twigs give out and decay runs back into

Photo 102
Trunk of Rathbone Elm, Marietta, Ohio.

the larger branches and, finally, the once beautiful top of a
grand tree, while really but in youth, falls a victim to disease,
death and decay. Never apply a remedy until you have ascer-
tained the cause of the malady.

Photo 102 shows the huge trunk of the great "Rathbone
Elm," at Marietta, O. Think of the wonderful, silent forces
that have been at work to construct this great body for two cen-
turies or more! Every spring as the Reclbirds, Orioles and other
songsters have poured forth their thrilling music from its top,

THE TREE DOCTOR

117

which is a "grove" in itself, this marvelous creature has under-
taken to build a new concentric "ring" or layer to the already
mammoth trunk. A million buds await the action of their in-
visible co-workers below. The majestic top, a little woodland in
itself, has stood guard over the old Rathbone home, encounter-
ing the bleak storms and howling winds of six, long months since
its foliage was stripped and returned to mother earth. It has

Photo 103
Boston Ivy is the Best Vine in America.

seen the Ohio frozen and held for weeks in frigid bands and,
anon, vapor that once spread over hundreds of thousands of
miles, condensed and formed into irresistible torrents, sweeping
from rivulet, gully, creek and river, swelling the banks of the
mighty stream, inundating hamlet," village and old Marietta her-
self; but there this monarch stands (see Photo 13) awaiting the
orders of a greater monarch, old king "Sol." who has just
"crossed the line" and is about to give his behest; "Forward,
march ! six months' work ahead,"

118

THE TREE DOCTOR

Raise your hand, hold up a leaf in the other, placing the leaf
beside the open hand. As you gaze upon the structure of the
hand you may possibly think of the old scripture, "I am fearfully
and wonderfully made." Can anything less be said of the leaf?
Your hand has locomotion ; the leaf has not. Does that argue
anything against the wonders of the creation of the leaf? "But
man is an intelligent being." §ome are; some are not. (Cer-
tainly the "Tree butcher" and "Grape-vine fool" are not). Ad-
mitting, however, that man in general has some intellect, what
has that to do with his being "fearfully and wonderfullv made?"
An idiot may have a better formed body (excepting the brain)
than the president of a college.

You eat bread, meats, butter, fruits, vegetables, etc. Can
you tell anything how some quiet, effectual and intelligent
agency separates the substances into bone, muscles, finger-nails,
hair and all the other parts of the body? Alan knows absolutely
nothing of how it is done. Now pick up a germinating elm

Photo 104
The Abode of Poverty.

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119

Photo 105, Easily Grown.

seed. You examine the cotyledons, the plumule and radicle.
You step back five hundred feet from the great Rathbone Elm.
You hold up this little, new born, baby tree, then you look at the
monarch of two centuries. Removing your hat, you draw near;
you pluck one of its leaves ; you are struck with its beauty ; you
look at its petiole, veinlets and veinulets ; you admire its serated
edge, (see Photo 89.) and if you have a microscope, you examine
the parenchvma cells and stomata ; and involuntarily you ex-
claim, "It is fearfully and wonderfully made!"

When we come to the subject of creative forces and under-
stand how bodies are built and all parts of the food separated
and carried to and used in their right places, the toad knows just
as much as the man, and the tree comprehends as much as the
toad. In this particular, all are on a level. An independent cre-
ative influence is operating alike on rattle-snake, horse and man;
on grape-vine, rose and tree ; on tulip, thistle and thorn ; on mil-
dew, mold and mushroom ; everywhere — from the highest to the
lowest — all are moved and controlled by that great, incomprehen-
sible something that we call "Life."

120

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 106
A Vine-clad Home.

Photo 107
Wistaria covering Barn.

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121

But, after all, man is a wonderful creature. He has powers,
which, if wrongly directed, or not directed at all. may be used,
among other things, in "butchering" millions of dollars worth of
fruit and shade trees, ruthlessly destroying the world's forest and,
ultimately, rendering the surface of the globe uninhabitable. But

Photo 108

Japanese Clematis in Bloom.

the very fact that a locomotive possesses the power to produce
a "wreck" proves that it can be made serviceable to mankind.
As set forth, further on, in the discussion of "future forestry,"
man must apply his powers of thought for constructive purposes.
He will do so, he will learn from the mistakes of the past. His
thought power will gradually work into harmony with the Di-

122

THE TREE DOCTOR

vine, he will fulfill the purpose for which he was created ; he will
learn that all living forces are a part of one great whole ; that
God is Life, and, therefore, all Life is Divine, and that our "high
calling" is to observe, to learn, to teach one another what "laws"
enter into the development of perfect health ; to assist in the ap-
plication of such laws, that Nature may hasten her great evolu-
tionary work and that under the man's intelligent planting and
fostering "the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose."
AYith all the blunders and, apparently, "cussedness" of man, pub-
lished in daily papers, he is still a wonderful creature! May he
learn to better the world and thereby glorify the Creator by
Whom he is so highly endowed.

Photo 109
Church at Sewickley, Pa.

CHAPTER IV

A SERIOUS SITUATION — CITY PARKS SUFFERING IN CONSEQUENCE OF
POLITICAL CORRUPTION— COMMISSIONER WALGROVE'S STATEMENT
—PRACTICAL SCHOOLS NEEDED TO TRAIN YOUNG MEN TO HAN-
DLE TREES— THE "BOARDING HOUSE"— HOME OR HELL?—
How TO GROW FLOWERS— THE "FIVE A.M. FORMULA"
—THE TULIP AND II YACINTH— THE ROSE— THE RHO-
DODENDRON — How TO GROW THE COMMON
FLOWERS — ORNAMENTAL PLANTS CHRYS-
ANTHEMUM GROWING — CAUSES OF
FAILURE — How TO SUCCEED.

A SERIOUS SITUATION.

When I published the old "Tree Doctor," and it was heart-
ily endorsed by practical men, agricultural and horticultural edi-
tors, and men of science, it was not received by the "Tree men"
of large cities. I had heard much of the grandeur of the parks
in Washington City, Boston, New York and other places. Oh!
how I longed to see the fine specimens at the National Capitol !
The time came ; but holy horrors ! the very first park I went into
(Smithsonian) I found "butchered" just the same as an ordinary
street of a northern city. I went on to Richmond, Va. Surely
here in this old Capitol of the South, with the skill and taste of
centuries contributing to its welfare and glory, something re-
deeming would be found! But the very home and resting-place
of southern heroes is desecrated by the same monster — the tree
butcher! I turned toward Bunker Hill and, while not so bad,
sad havoc was seen on every hand, in and around "the hub of the
universe." The condition of the trees in Philadelphia and Har-
risburg have already been spoken of, conditions woeful beyond
description ! The parks of New York are an improvement, but
they show a lack of skill in caring for the trees in a manner to
prolong their lives. Central Park has some fine trees, but many

( 123 )

124

THE TREE DOCTOR

are "crotched" and split. Others are afflicted with huge wounds
and some with large holes from which the trees are rapidly going
into decay. I think that in the city of New York there is a due
appreciation of the park trees and, surely, the people cannot af-
ford to lose them. But it was in this city that I learned a lesson
of a very serious nature, which seems to apply to all the cities,
and explains why the trees are in such a condition. Read care-

t '1 ,..•*&*• -

Photo 110
A Bank of English Ivy.

fully what follows. I think you will be satisfied that all states
should frame laws so that the park commissioners may be en-
dowed with powers by which they can produce the best results
on the trees of their respective communities.

On June 13, '06, I had the pleasure of giving my stereopticon
lecture under the auspices of the North-Side Board of Trade of
New York City. Hon. Geo. M. \Yalgrove, commissioner of
parks of the borough of Bronx, was present, and asked me to
call on him at his office at Claremont Park. I did so. "We looked

THE TREE DOCTOR

125

over the trees and found a great number in a very bad condi-
tion. He asked me if they could be saved. I pointed out those
that could be restored, and stated the approximate cost. I found
Commissioner Walgrove to be a very honorable and candid man.
Said he, "I will now tell you how I am situated. There is just
so much money appropriated by the city government to run this
park system. So much has to be spent on drives, so much for

Photo 111
A luxuriant Growth.

this and so much for that. There is but a small amount to be
spent on trees. But the worst of it is I have no power to hire
skilled labor for this work. The men are sent to me from the
Civil Service Department, recommended as suitable persons to
look after the trees. It is possible they know enough to put on
a pair of spurs and mutilate a tree, as they would climb a tele-
graph pole ; they may not know that much. They may not
know enough to grind an ax with which they would "butcher"
a tree. These men are'"recommended" to the Civil Service De-

126

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 112
A Substitute for Awnings.

partment for some political service rendered. I have not even
the power to discharge them ; all I can do is send them back to
the department that sent them to me, and prefer complaint
against them. That is how I am situated ; I am utterly power-
less to do what I would gladly do, and what should be done for
the good of the city." I may add that in Claremont Park, and
also in the Bronx Park, there are some large, rare, and valuable
trees, specimens that Xew York City cannot afford to lose, but
they are dying because the curse of politics renders it impossible
to save them.

I am not aware that Commissioner Walgrove intended the
foregoing as "private conversation." Indeed, I take it for grant-
ed that he will be heartily glad for me to put it in print. "Why
should such a hustling, energetic man. a man with good taste
and sound judgment, have his hands tied thus by the petty poli-
ticians of New York City? A man is not supposed to be ap-

Photo 113
The Charm of the Veranda is the Vine.

Photo 114
Beautiful, but Hard on Trees.

128

THE TREE DOCTOR

pointed to such a position unless he has manly discretion. Why
hamper him as if he was a ten-year-old school boy? Is this
a specimen of "governmental control?" If so, then from "gov-
ernmental ownership" "Good Lord, deliver us!''

I suggest that the press of the country take up the work-
ings of "Civil Service Reform" and see if it does not, in itself,
need a reformation. President Cleveland undoubtedly aimed
to correct an abuse; "To the victors belong the spoils." But
it would be well to ascertain whether a greater evil is arising
from an usurped, concentrated power by the Civil Service
Boards.

A park commissioner should certainly have the power to
expend the money appropriated for trees, in the manner to
bring the best results. If the amount allowed for this be too
little, let the papers discuss the question for the benefit of the
public. Year after year the trees are perishing in the smaller
parks, such as Union Square, Madison Square and the like. As
set forth in "A Xew Era in Tree Growing," the trees that are

Photo 115, Nature's Handiwork.

THE TREE DOCTOR 129

dying in those smaller parks might be preserved, some of them,
for hundreds of years. To have the fine trees of Central Park
go into premature decay through neglect or from political evils
is a thing that the metropolis cannot afford. The same might be
said of any other city. To allow the selfish rottenness of poli-
tics, indirectly, to ruin the park trees is a thing that no thought-
ful American should tolerate. Who will "move" to save the city
park trees?

There is no way in which a correct estimate could be made
of the damage done in this country by the ''Tree butcher."
Look at his criminal work on the Poplar tree in Photo 101.
The fool made up his mind that he would "make them branch
out !" Compare his brutal work with Nature's accomplishments
in the Lime tree in Photo 115, and the arching of a street, as
shown in Photo 116.

Photo 116, An arched Street.

130

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 117, A Boarding-House.

Well, it is no use to spend more time in "firing into" those
poor numskulls who are not responsible financially or in any
other way for the incalculable damage that they have inflicted
on the country. The question arises, how are we going to stop
it? The first thing is for the whole country to recognize the
planting and care of trees as a science. Whether recognized or
not, that's what it is, and as long as the people ignore the fact,
just that long the country will be over-run with illiterate crea-
tures, of all nationalities, who, if they own an ax and saw, will
pose as ''Tree men." If a community must support such a class
of vandals, raise your tax levy and pension them, but keep them
away from the trees!

We have agricultural colleges that are doing considerable
good, but they are not as practical as they should be. Often a
young man from the city will take a three or four years' course
in a college and come out as a "farmer." What is needed is not
simply a class of graduates with diplomas of standing in the
classes of a college, but workmen. In this respect, Europe is a

THE TREE DOCTOR 131

Photo 118-a, A Log Cabin.

long way ahead of us. I find a very large majority of the flor-
ists, and gardeners of rich men's estates, in the east, are from
Europe ; also many of the superintendents of those estates.
Why take the foreigner? Because we are not producing "work-
men" at home. Let every state take this matter up, and estab-
lish institutions in which they can turn out not "theorists," but
men of practical knowledge. While the states are not — as yet —
equipped for this work, I am taking young men out of the col-
leges and putting them under special drill.

In Photo 117 you have a view of a first-class "boarding-
house." Here drifts the one whose system is filled with nico-
tine ; the one whose body is steeped with alcohol ; the criminal
who has ignored the God of Nature, filled his stomach with
trash that would make a dyspeptic of the toughest dog; and last,
but not least, there gravitates to this beautiful spot the noble but
unwise man who has nearly wrecked that divine machinery, the
brain, all for what? To see how much he can "own." Great
heart, manly soul, have you ever answered the question, "Who-
ever 'owned' anything?" Cease to pay your taxes and the State
will soon show you who is the "owner." Go on and pay your

132 THE TREE DOCTOR

taxes and, in a few years, death meets you face to face and, in
a calm but firm tone, asks, "Whose are all these things?" Here
in this excellent "boarding-house" they all try to fo/get those
antagonizing forces that have produced the gray hairs, and
ruthlessly plowed deep furrows across the once smooth brow
that received the tender kisses from the mother's lips, who sang
her children to sleep in the little log cabin which is still "though
lost to sight to memory dear." Here these sinners (for "sin is
the trangression of law" — any law), commingle, drink mineral
water and recuperate. As the birds have twittered their last
vespers, and darkness is creeping on, instinctively from mem-
ory's store-house there come to the lips the language of child-
hood's early days: "Now I lay me down to sleep," and with
that come visions of mother or sister in the old log home, read-
ing from the old school book: "Turn backward, turn backward,
Oh, years in your flight, make me a child again just for to-
night !" Once more the blessed angel spirit of mother seems to
hover over the erring soul which fervently breathes, "Rock me
to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep." Coming into obedience of
divine law, "He giveth his beloved sleep," and all arise to hear
the song of birds, and to remark : "How delightful it would be
to return to 'simple life.' " Well, blessed is he who never de-
parted from it !

If you will turn back to Photos 103 and 10-i you will see a
strong contrast in two Pittsburg abodes. Either one may be
"h-o-m-e or h-e-1-1," according to the character of the people
who occupy them ; for riches do not- — in themselves — make
demons, nor does poverty — in itself — make saints. It does,
however, sometimes happen that a mansion may be a cradle of
indiscretion that ripens into vice, culminates in murder, followed
— for months — with a thousand newspapers pouring a contin-
uous stream of the vilest filth (the "suit") into the minds of mil-
lions of youths.

Young people, in entering married life, whether you secure
a "home" or a "hell" will depend not on what you have but what
you are. You look into the future and contemplate a "home ;"
a real "home" for yourselves! Did you ever see a "home?"
Let me show you one ; it may be a log cabin, or ruder still.

The work in the field is done for the day; Jim and Bill have

THE TREE DOCTOR 133

been "rubbed down" and are munching their oats in a manner
that shows that they are possessed of a kind of unconscious feel-
ing that they have performed their duty, and are at peace with
all creation. Mamma has milked the "Bossie," and cheerily
calls toward the garden, ''Supper !" Papa has now washed
and is seated before a plain table with clean table-cloth on which
are setting the sweetest milk, purest butter, best of bread, fresh-
est of vegetables and the most wholesome fruits. All are or-

Photo 118-b, The Dutch Oven.

derly seated and — hush! "Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for
protection during another day, and for all the blessings of life :
We ask Thee to watch over us in the silent nours of the coming
night, and help us to live for the glory of Thy name. Amen."
Supper is over, and Flossie helps mamma "do the dishes," while
little brother goes with papa into the garden, looks over the
vegetables, then waters the flowers and vines. The twilight
deepens; Jim and Bill and Bossie are "turned out to pasture,"
and all are "washed up" in readiness to take a peaceful night of
slumber.

134 THE TREE DOCTOR

Flossie reverently kneels by the mother's side: (Silence! ye
men of bewildered and overworked brains.) "Our Father Who
are in heaven ; hallowed be Thy name ; Thy kingdom come ; Thy
will be done on earth as it is in heaven ; give us day by day our
daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them
that trespass against us ; lead us not into temptation but deliver
us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,
Amen. God bless mamma, and papa, and brother and dolly
and pussy-cat and doggy. Amen." Little brother is also
weary and ready for a refreshing sleep, and presents his usual
request: "Papa, please sing for me." Papa takes him in his
arms and sings :

"When mothers of Salem their children brought to Jesus,
the stern disciples drove them back and bade them depart ; But
Jesus saw them e'er they fled and sweetly smiled and kindly
said: 'Suffer the children to come unto me.' "

Day by day thus passes, and the years roll by ; and it is here
the nation's heroes are formed; for, as one has said: "Xo man
will take up a musket and fight for a boarding-house, but any
one will give his life for his home." "Home" is where pure,
faithful, self-sacrificing spirits are blended in oneness of purity
of thought and purpose ; the nearest approach to heaven on
earth. But the bliss of the earthly paradise is not always un-
alloyed. One evening little brother's head is feverish. The
doctor is called, and the days go by, until, at last, he presents
the request: "Papa, won't you sing for me once more?" Mus-
tering courage, papa sings the last verse of the little mission
song that little brother so much loved :

"Oh, soon may the heathen of every tribe and nation,

Fulfill Thy blessed Word and cast their idols all away :

Oh ! shine upon them from above and show Thyself a God of

love ;
Suffer the children to come unto Thee."

A little angel was permitted to stay in the "home" for nine
years, then departed.

Well, well! new bread for supper. See! they are taking
it out of this old Dutch oven (Photo 118). "Here chickie, here

THE TREE DOCTOR 135

chickie" (Photo 119). I declare! fresh eggs too! Who
wouldn't like to have a "home" on a farm, particularly in the
summer time?

Photo 119, Fresh Eggs, too.

HOW TO GROW FLOWERS.

There is not one in a thousand but loves flowers — some
flower. All would like to know how to procure them, but very
few like to comply with Nature's inexorable laws, study and
work, by which they are produced. It is an universal law, that
which costs us nothing is but slightly appreciated. How many
have a full appreciation of fresh air and sunlight? What pro-
portion of humanity is thrilled with the charm of Spring, the
glory of Summer, the beauty of Fall and. the voices of Winter's
endless tales? Oh, yes, all say, "it is pretty," "it is lovely," "it
is too hot," or "too cold," etc. There is no stronger proof that

136 THE TREE DOCTOR

the "God over all" is infinite in his attributes than in the fact
that He ''bears" with the ingratitude of his erring children.
Logically speaking, however, this long suffering is a necessity,
to a certain extent, because man is to so improve that, harmon-
izing with the will of his Creator, he will yet be the instrument
by whom this world will be converted into a paradise, the per-
fection, utility and grandeur of which, as yet "the eye hath not
seen nor ear heard," and the proof of these future accomplish-
ments— by man— lies in what he has already done.

Do you want to grow flowers? "Yes, yes, of course we do."
All right ; intelligence is the first thing. In sixty years I have
been able to gather up a little knowledge, and I offer it to you ;
but are you ready to "do the doing?" If you will, then you can
have "crops" of any kind, but we will confine ourselves to flower-
growing at present. I will suppose that you are a clerk, me-
chanic, or in a situation in life that you cannot consistently hire
your work done. Are you ready to "cut out" the vaudeville,
club meetings, and all the other night-meetings which necessi-
tate your being "called in time" to eat a soft-boiled egg, and
then run to catch the car to get to the office in time to look in
the mirror — before your day's work begins — to see that your
head is "silvering" at the age of forty? You are! All right;
listen :

Did you ever dig a ditch? A real, underground drain, three
feet deep, lay the tile, etc., with your own hands? You didn't!
Then you have missed half of the pleasure of life ! You pro-
ceed thusly : You arise five A. M. (four A. M. in summer) and
work two hours — real work ; then instead of your wife bending
over you and whispering, "Dearie, it is seven-thirty, you will have
to hurry to catch the car. Is there anything you would eat this
morning?" you will lay aside the pick, spade and shovel, and
as you hurry through the hall to the bathroom yell, "Hey there,
wife, I'm as hungry as a bear; got anything to eat?" So it
comes about, in a kind of unconscious way, having created a
stomach that von feel would digest rat-tail files, the first crop
you grow is that of "roses" on your cheeks, and you will no
longer wonder where such rosy cheeks have been procured by
the millions of foreigners that bless America, but become them-
selves cursed — when they have learned America's habit of turn-

THE TREE DOCTOR 137

ing night into day and loading their stomachs with things that
would "debilitate" a hog.

Photo 120 presents a very fine "flower-bed" and the average,
person has no objection to the crimson crop of strawberries that
follows. But our modern strawberry is an evolution. In the
great struggle for existence, the tendency is to strengthen and
develop. This is true in plant life as well as in animal. The

Photo 120
A fine "Flower Bed."

Strawberry, in the United States, Jhas received a great deal of
attention. It sometimes seems almost incredible the size and
perfection to which it has been brought. But another fact is
just as forcibly true, namely; cease to give it the care under
which it has been "developed" and it speedily deteriorates.

If vour land is damp and soggy, the first thing needed is
underdrainage. If you can get the "fall," dig three feet deep,
(two and one-half may do). The size of the tile should not be less
than three inches. Then cover the tile with a foot of cinders,

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THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 121
Tulips Unsurpassed in Beauty.

if you can possibly procure them ; if the cinders are used and you
have a solid bottom, uniform rise and good outlet, you have a
drain that will last for ages.

In my travels, I have seen some very large Tulip beds, much
larger than those shown in Photo 121, but I never saw anything
surpass their beauty and perfection. I took the picture at Mr.
Wm. B. Barnum's, Quaker Ridge, Mamaroneck, X'. Y. Mrs.
Barnuni is seen in the photo, and "Uncle Joe," the Scotchman,
to the left, evidently puts to good use the education in thorough-
ness characteristic of the training of the old countries. Tulips,
Hyacinths, and most bulbs should be planted in the fall ; the lat-
ter end of October is a good time. If your soil is wet, don't
forget the drainage. Tulips are great feeders. Suppose you
have a circular flower bed, eight feet in diameter. Put a stake
in the exact center, throw a string around it ; strike the radius
that you want ; draw a mark around with a stick or peg. Take

THE TREE DOCTOR 139

a spade and cut right down in this circular line. Take out the
earth one spade deep, and lay it outside. If the remaining soil
is good and deep, spread over it about three inches of well rotted
barnyard manure. Spade it in and work it up together with
spading fork.

You are now ready for planting. Set your stake again in
the center, draw a line six inches within the border; other lines
eight inches apart, to the center. Press the bulbs down in this
soil, full depth of bulb. Arrange colors to suit taste. White
in the center, then yellow, then red blend well. Now take the
top layer of earth which has been laid aside, and spread all over
the bed, raising it slightly in the center. Rake off in neat form,
and your work is done. While it is not absolutely necessary to
"cover" a tulip bed, yet by spreading, say, six inches of coarse
manure over it after New Year's, removing it about the middle
of March, does give a more uniform crop. Proceed in the same
way for the Hyacinth. To grow the Tulip or Hyacinth for the
window, put them in four or five-inch pots, the same time as
you make the flower-bed. Plunge the pots full depth into the
soil, in a sheltered place. Upon freezing, cover with a foot or
more of coarse manure. Carry to the house as you need them.
After placing in the house avoid freezing and never let the earth
dry out.

x"What about Photo 120?" Oh, yes, yes, I nearly forgot to
tell you how to grow Strawberry flowers. Good soil, clean of
weeds (clean as you can) and good drainage. A very good way
is to manure the ground heavily in spring and plant to early po-
tatoes. Let no weeds grow before or after digging. Cultivate
in bone-meal after potatoes are dug. Adopt the Peter Hender-
son method of setting "potted plants," the latter end of August
or early part of September. If you have no Strawberry plants,
it may be your neighbor has. Gather up all the small flower
pots you have, get permission to lay down some runners. You
do it in this way : Select healthy plants, fill the flower pot with
soil and with trowel or hoe dig a hole and sink it — full length
into the earth. Take the runner and place the newly forming
bud right on the earth in the flower-pot. Put a little stone back
of the young bud that is forming to hold it in place. By the end
of August the flower-pot will be full of roots and, if you make

140

THE TREE DOCTOR

your new bed from this kind of plants, you will have a nice
flower-bed next spring, plus the fruit. You practically gain one
season by this method. This first summer no weeds should be
tolerated, and the second season you will get a mammoth crop.
That should be the last of this plantation, because it is difficult
to keep down the weeds, and it is cheaper to make a new setting
every season, spading or plowing the old plantation under and
"rotating" with some other crop.

Photo 122, Dogwood in Spring.

If you cannot procure the potted plants, prepare the ground
and have it clean of weeds, as before suggested, but set your
plants in rows three feet apart, and plants in the row, fifteen
inches apart, as soon as the frost is out of the ground in spring
and it is dry enough to work. Let no weeds grow during the
season and cut off the main runners, and the next season you
will have a big crop. Some run them on for yet another season,
but it is almost impossible to control the weeds.

In Photo 122 you have a glimpse of a very attractive "Dog-

THE TREE DOCTOR

141

wood." These grow finely in sandy or gravelly soils but are
not favorable to wet, heavy lands. Drainage is the only thing
that would induce them to do well in the heavy soils. Their
beauty of coloring, in the fall, is equal to their charm in spring.
Shortly after the Dogwood, come the flowers of the abundant
blooming "Black Locust," so-called. This is one of the greatest
honey producers. (See Photo 123).

Photo 123
The Black Locust in Flower.

A WOEFUL MISTAKE.

I came to this country (Northern Ohio) in 1873. In the
late spring and early summer months "all Nature teemed with
delightful existence." Bees were buzzing and humming on all
hands. The wild bees were yet in abundance in the hollow trees
of the native woodlands, but as the forests yielded to the brutal
ax, the "bee hunter" "got a corner" on the busy, beneficial, but
helpless little creatures, and to-day there is scarcely a colony of
wild bees to be found in a single county in Ohio. At the same
time, epidemics have spread among the domestic bees, and we

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THE TREE DOCTOR

have not a tenth of those faithful little workers that we need to
convey the pollen grains to the particular organs of the flower
in such a limited time as we frequently have between showers
at the time when trees and vines are in bloom. Talk of bugs
and insects destroying trees ! Is there any class of insects, or
all combined, that have done as much mischief as man himself?
He has destroyed the forests and dried up the streams ; he has
butchered the buffalo and nearly all the "game," not sparing the
song birds, and even robbed and killed his little innocent friends
— the Bees. Yet this destroyer is to be the restorer and the in-
strument of universal redemption. The great crime of all
crimes — of humanity — is selfishness. But the time is now at
hand when man will learn that happiness consists not in living
for self, but to live and plant for those who follow.

ROSE GROWING.

No rose, perhaps, has ever so "agreeably surprised" the peo-
ple as has the "Crimson Rambler." Years ago I learned to "go

Photo 124, A Sturdy Rambler.

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143

Photo 125

Ramblers are Prolific Bloomers.

slow on novelties." The first Crimson Rambler I saw made no
growth for two years, and it looked like a "fraud." After its
merits were learned, I planted some myself. They were set in
September. From the following April to September they grew
over nine feet. This was no "happenstance." The soil was a
loose sand, but for each plant a hole was dug four feet in diam-
eter and four feet deep. This was filled with two parts clay sod,
and one part well rotted barnyard manure. Good, strong, one-
year-old plants were used, cutting them back, and covering
them, after Christmas, till spring. Photo 124 shows a strong
old Rambler, cut back, and the vigorous, lower, young branches
tied down to a frame, and three young canes tied up to a sup-
port in the center, rudely representing an old-fashioned candle-
stick. When in bloom, the whole was a blaze of glory. Photo
125 shows what a prolific bloomer the plant is. In making rose-
beds, remember that drainage is absolutely necessary if the situ-
ation is wet and soggy, for though the rose delights in clay soils
it cannot stand to be "wet-footed." If the soil is of a clay tex-

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ture, add a plenty of old, cow manure and work it in deep, and
the results will be a fine crop of roses. As before intimated, if
you have sand or loose gravel, it must be removed and the clay
(not "raw clay,'' as one would make bricks of, but a clay sod and
subsoil — all mixed) must be substituted. In pruning (which
should be done only in the spring), cut out all old wood, and
one-half of the weaker of the new wood and slightly shorten
back the remaining ones. Don't buy your roses or other
plants of "Tree agents." Send direct to the nursery, and you
will be apt to get what you call for, as it is to the interest of all
such firms to keep up their reputation.

THE RHODODENDRON.

Photo 126 gives a view of a neat batch of Rhododendrons.
This is one of the plants in particular whose home it is necessarv
to take into consideration. Where do you find it a native?

Photo 126, Rhododendrons.

THE TREE DOCTOR 145

Photo 127
Wistaria over Entrance to Garden.

About the same place in which you find the Pennsylvania Laurel,
in the woods or on the ledges of rock where one would some-
times think it could hardly have a chance to live. But here,
among the fragments of rocks, covered with decayed leaves, it
derives its main support from the moisture condensed — in sum-
mer— by the cooling stones under and among which it rambles
with perfect delight. . In planting Rhododendrons avoid heavy
clay soils. See, first, that the drainage is good, then use leaf
mould and sand ; or light "muck" will take the place of leaf
mould. After the plants are set, spread over the surface three or
four inches of rough gravel or crushed stone. Through this
you can water freely in summer, and develop both plant and
tlower buds before fall. Failure to make this provision for get-
ting water to the roots results in immature flower buds which are
killed by severe "cold spells." The north side of a building is
the proper place for them, but if you must put them where the
bright sun will strike them — in winter — cover them with ever-
green boughs, cornstalks or something that will shade them,
or their leaves will "blister" and the plant be materially injured.
Photo 127 shows the pretty effect of the Wistaria trained
over the entrance to the vegetable garden. The heavy vine on
the end of the barn, shown in Photo 107, is also a Wistaria.
10

146

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Imagine the glory of this vine when in full bloom ! America is
a country of "homes." Oh ! that people would study the life of
plants and trees and make it a nation of vine-clad homes !

Photo 128 is a demonstration of the fact that there is seldom
such a thing as "can't." Right at that spot was an old road-bed
(now in the lawn) where cinders and all matter unfavorable to

Thriving on an old Road-bed.

plant life had been scattered. It is desired to put a Hawthorn
tree there. Very well, strike a circle eight feet in diameter ; now
dig to a depth of three feet ; done. Now fill with sods, soil, ma-
nure, etc. We plant the Hawthorn ; growing finely. Around it,
and about eighteen inches from it, is a ring of the Japanese Iris,
a gorgeous charm in the latter part of July. Then outside
(hold on, don't pick them !) a ring of vigorous, healthy Asters.
Oh, don't say can't ;" yes, you can grow plants almost anywhere.
A neighbor has some choice varieties of hardy Phlox ; they go
to seed ; next spring the young seedlings come up thick, and a

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147

boy lifts some of them and puts a row through the midst of the
vegetable garden. Look at them in Photo 129. "I wish I
could." I tell you, you can! Intelligence and work — that's all.
Photo 130 and 131 is the Hydrangea Hortensis in bloom in
August, at Mr. Julian T. Davis' beautiful residence, at "Second
Beach," Newport, R. I. (Blur in Photo 131 is not in the house,
but on the negative.) The effect of the Atlantic breeze is no-

Photo 129
A Row of Hardy Phlox.

ticeably modifying for many miles inland. This Hydrangea will
not "winter" with us in middle and northern Ohio. Neither will
the English Ivy. Yet in the region of New York it does well.
No healthier growth of the English Ivy could be found than is
covering an embankment at Mr. Wm. Rockefeller's place, as
shown in Photo 110.

In sending out a book of this kind, covering such a wide
range of territory, no rule can be laid down as to what kind of
plants to use. Learn what is suitable to your locality by inquir-
ing and observation.

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Photo 130
Hydrangeas in full Bloom.

Photo 131
Residence of Julian T. Davis, Newport, R. I.

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149

A well-meaning person went to the expense of buying and
planting Nasturtium seeds (see Photo 132 ;) they were the tall-
growing kind, but it does not look like it. now, on the twentieth
of August. What's the matter? Starved. An ignorant day-
laborer was hired to "make the flower-bed." He dug up the soil,
and the good people planted the seed and talked and dreamed of

Photo 132, Starved Nasturtiums.

the "loads of flowers" that they would gather from this "great
big bed !" Now they vow they will "never buy another package
from that seed firm !"

Next spring, adopt the five o'clock rising. First morning,
take the top layer of soil off where the flower-bed is going to be
and lay it aside, then if you are down to gravel, clay or "hard-

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THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 133
They Rambled out into the Driveway.

pan," dig this out and wheel it away. Excavate not less than
eighteen inches deep. Xext morning, fill in with old sods, good
soil and well rotted manure. If you have none on hand have it
hauled. Finish off the bed and plant the seed, three or four in a
bunch. Just press them lightly into the soil and lay a little stone
over them. This little stone — an inch or an inch and one-half in
diameter — will preserve moisture and prevent a hard crust form-
ing and give you a chance to hoe all the earth between where the
seeds are. Put the little bunches of seeds about a foot apart.
Very soon the new-born babes appear, and after a few weeks they
grow, and grow, and grow! They run out over the drive-way,
(see Photo 133.) up on the bushes, out over the fence, and shout,
"Give us room — more room!" and you will have to call in the

Photo 134
Occasional Shorn Trees are to be Recommended for the Country.

Photo 135
Boston Ivy will Cover a Wall Completely.

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neighbors to help you train the vines and gather the long-stem-
med flowers. "Luck !" Yes, sirs ; nothing beats the five A. M.
rising formula for "luck."

In Photo 132 in the distance is seen what was intended to
be a "foliage-bed." Contrast the bed shown in Photo 135. The
man who made this bed understood his business. Ricinus are

Photo 136
Used as a Screen.

used for the center of both. Cannas for the outside of the for-
mer, Caladium Esculentum for the latter.

How nicely old piles of debris can be hidden from view by
planting a few morning-glory seeds, with sun-flowers back, as
shown in Photo 136. If you have the grave-yard of fifty cats,
the outlet of a sink drain, or a pile of old tin cans over the fence
which your neighbor refuses to move, two five-cent packages of
seed and one five A. M. rising will remedy the whole trouble. If
you have a big rock on the lawn that you cannot remove, or any

THE TREE DOCTOR 153

other object not exactly agreeable to look upon, dig down deep
around it and plant a package of seeds, preferably vines. Those
seen in Photo 137 are the dwarf Nasturtiums.

Photo 137, Dwarf Nasturtiums.

THE CANNA.

The superb bed of Cannas in Photo 138 was fourteen feet
high in the center. These were the old tall-growing, bronze va-
riety, Robusta. It was surrounded with the "golden-bedder"
Coleus. The "good luck" of this gentleman came from digging
the bed (in elliptical form) three feet deep. In the filling, one
big two-horse wagon load of cow manure was worked in. As
the plants grew they were fed twice a week with nitrate of soda.

In the last fifteen years special attention has been given to
the French flowering Cannas, as they are called. The hybri-

154

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Photo 138
Superb bed of Cannas.

Photo 139, Flowering Cannas,

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155

dizers have worked with a view of perfecting the flower even
though it may dwarf the plant. A very fine display of the
"flowering" sorts are shown in Photo 139. A beautiful contrast
is brought out by the use of the variegated Abutilon as a border
plant, seen in the picture. This is at Mr. Robt. Pitcairn's, Ells-
worth Ave., Pittsburg, Pa. ; and very high credit is due Mr. Robt.
A. Smith, florist to the establishment, (he is seen among the
Cannas,) for his efficient services in producing such excellent re-
sults. In growing "foliage plants," (that is, those grown for
the display of the leaf,) feed heavily, the richer the food, the bet-
ter the foliage.

The Echeverias are now used with very marked effective-
ness in ornamental flower-beds. Photo 140 was a most exquis-
ite piece of work. This I found in a small park in Allegheny,
Pa. Would gladly "give credit" to the one who executed the
splendid design, but did not learn his name. As can be seen,
a mound was raised and planted with the different shades of Al-
thernantheras, a panel being used for the figure so finely planned

Photo 140
Skillful Work in Small Park, Allegheny, Pa.

156 THE TREE DOCTOR

and wrought. The figure is constructed with the Echeverias,
small plants being used for the throat and face, while the larger
and coarser represent the hair and drooping curls. A very little
Althernanthera is used for the eye-brow.

On a larger scale and equally ingenious is the train of cars,
shown in Photo 141. This is on the far side of the railroad, at
the entrance to Woodlawn Cemetery, New York. You can imag-

Photo 141
Train of Cars in Flowers, Woodlawn Cemetery, New York.

ine the fine figuring required to produce this design in such per-
fection. All the light portions seen are the Echeverias. The
contrasting shades are produced by the same little, low-growing,
bronze Althernanthera. These are worked in to produce the
dark shades of the car windows, and the other dark shades above
and below on the embankment. To those who are not acquaint-
ed with it, I will say the Echeverias are a flat, low-growing,
fleshy plant, known by the old name of "hen and chickens."
The house-leek which grows on the old thatched roofs in Great
Britain belongs to this family. In growing these plants, also the
Althernantheras, the order is somewhat reversed in the matter

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157

of "feeding." Instead of digging deep and filling- in with ma-
nure, the florist takes sand and clay, and perhaps a little bone-
meal and aims, while it is kept growing, to produce a stunted
condition of the plant. This brings out coloring, like the leaves

Photo 142
The Golden-bedder skirting Walk.

of a thirsty, half-starved maple tree will "turn" — even in sum-
mer. While the work of a florist is arduous, it is fraught with
endless pleasure, and surely he lives not in vain !

Remember "foliage plants" in general, require high feeding.
Make Coleus beds as rich as you like.

It is all a matter of taste as to what plants any person or

158

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 143
Everyone should Grow Lilies.

family shall use. A friend of mine says, "I hate a Coleus ; would
not have one in my lawn." Personally, I admire them, both be-
cause they have brilliant colors and because they make a display
quicker than any other plant. The old Verchiffelti and Golden-
bedder are two of the standards for out-of-door planting; ihey
can be seen in the two rows skirting the entrance walk, in Photo
142. Those are highly fed, as the Coleus always must be to give
satisfaction. A friend of mine committed a serious blunder.
He made the Coleus bed "good and rich," and planted on the out-
er border a row of blue Ageratums. The Coleus made a marvel-
ous growth, so did the Ageratums; they grew, and grew, and
grew, but produced no flowers. Some people make the same mis-
take with the Geranium ; in rich soil they will grow all to leaf,
great leaves as large as a pie-plate, but no flowers, or very few.
Make up your mind what is going in this bed. what in that, etc.,
then prepare the soil accordingly. If it is to be Caladium,

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159

Canna, Coleus, Lemon-verbena, any of the scented Geraniums,
in short, any plant that you may be growing to form a show of
leaves, like the Ricinus or those already mentioned, then dig
deep and use fertilizer almost without limit. But should you
attempt to get bloom under such conditions (except the "flower-
ing Cannas") you will fail, because such high feeding produces
the same effect on all plants — heavy foliage. For all flowering
plants, one would select a medium quality soil. About what
you find in the average vegetable garden is just right. Such
soil is usually rich enough to produce a healthy growth, and at
the same time not so rich as to force it all to top.

Photo 144
Orchids and Tropical Plants.

160

THE TREE DOCTOR

THE LILY.

Lilies can be well fed and, in order to get them to do well,
the bed should be "made," i. e. ; dig everything out to the depth
of, say eighteen inches. If too wet, attend to draining, tramp
in old leaves and litter in the bottom, then use old sods and well-
rotted manure, filling in fully a foot. Set bulbs, and cover to
nearly surface with light soil, or sand and soil mixed. As the
earth settles down use about three inches of coarse gravel on
top. The object of using this gravel is to prevent drying out,
and to keep the ground cool. Lilium Auratum, the "Gold-banded
Lily," should be in every garden. See a fine specimen in Photo
143. Flowers are three feet from the ground.

It will be noticed that I frequently refer to coarse gravel
or crushed stone being put on the top. The purpose of this is
root protection. Millions of plants are annually destroyed be-

Photo 145
Use Boxes, not Pots.

THE TREE DOCTOR 161

cause people have not been educated to take care of the roots.
They freely spend money to procure plants, then take them
home and keep them in the little earthen-ware flower pots in
which they are grown — for convenience — in the greenhouse.
They put them on the window-sill, table, stand or anywhere,
and sometimes water them, sometimes not, then wonder why
the leaves drop off! and ask "if there isn't a worm or bug at the
root," and complain that they have "no luck with plants."
How many people get "luck" with the Fern? Hereafter, instead
of trying to grow it in a six-inch flower-pot, with roots dried out,
make a neat box, like you see in Photo 145, (at Mr. E. H. Jen-
nings', Fifth Ave., Pittsburg, Pa.,) using plenty of leaf-mold or
some light soil ; plant out in this box, keep well-watered in hot
weather, and you'll get "good luck" as sure as I am telling it to
you.

You should bear in mind that a plant, while in the green-
house, is surrounded by a moist atmosphere which is preserved
by watering, spraying, or dampening the floors ; hence, while a
plant is kept there it will remain fresh, like the orchids, hanging
overhead, or the tropical foliage plants, seen to the left, in Photo
144. The most favorable place in the dwelling-house for a
potted plant is the kitchen ; the steam from the cooking makes
almost a greenhouse atmosphere, but the tops would not suffer
so badly in the other (dry) rooms if one would give the needed
root protection. It is a mistake to try to "winter" a large num-
ber of plants in the ordinary house. A few Begonias, Fuchsias,
Geraniums, Primulas and, later, bringing in the potted bulbs, are
all that should be attempted. There is but very little satisfac-
tion from -the attempt to grow Roses and Carnations in the av-
erage living-room. A good-sized Begonia can be kept growing
in a four-inch pot if, once a year (in August), the plant be turned
out of the flower-pot, the ball of earth plunged in a pail of water
and nearly all the earth carefully soaked off, and repotted again.
For this purpose, if you have not good "potting soil" on hand,
purchase some of your florist.

In potting or re-potting a plant, always put gravel, cinders

or some other substance in the bottom for drainage; and don't

fill the pot quite full of earth ; leave it below the rim an inch or

so, so that it can "take water." Then, if you will take a larger

1 1

162

THE TREE DOCTOR

flower-pot, say six inches, put gravel in the bottom raising it
high enough so that you can stand the four-inch one (having the
plant) right in the center and bringing the top on a level with
the outer one, and then fill the space between the outer and in-
ner crocks with sand, your plant, thus treated, will do at least
five hundred per cent, better than those that are left in the ordi-
nary way. Certainly there is more pleasure with one good plant
than a dozen half-dead ones.

New York City imagine they have a superb collection of
plants in their conservatory at the Bronx Park; but the Phipps
Conservatory in Shenley Park, Pittsburg, or, rather, the plants
therein, are an hundred per cent, ahead of those of the Bronx.
It would be difficult, indeed, to surpass the quality of the Pitts-
burg plants, or the skill displayed in their management. Photo
146 shows the naturalness of one of the tropical lily ponds. The

Photo 146
Tropical Lily Pond, Phipps Conservatory, Pittsburg, Pa.

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163

Photo 147
Cacti, Phipps Conservatory, Pittsburg, Pa.

huge rubber-like leaves of Victoria Regina are so large that, by
placing boards on them and a chair, they have held up an ordi-
nary woman. In March they have the finest display of Cin-
erarias that I have ever beheld and the Calceolarias, a little later,
are equally as fine.

Perhaps neither Mr* Phipps nor any of his friends have ever
been able to measure what seems like an immeasurable influence
for good that this bestowment has been to hundreds of thou-
sands of the people of that city. It is not only interesting, but
bordering on the pathetic, to watch the holy influence of the
flowers and plants, as mute messengers of Heaven, alike on child-
hood, youth and age ; on the poor as well as the rich ; on the il-
literate foreigner as effectually as on the American man of let-
ters. One of the "wings" of the conservatory is occupied with
Cacti. Photo 147 is a glimpse from one end of this department.

164 THE TREE DOCTOR

Quite a number of varieties can be seen in the photo. The one
called by some "the cushion Cactus" is noticeable. However,
as far as I can gather, every man prefers that "the other fellow"
shall make the test as to whether it is a comfortable seat before
he "makes the venture." It is really a wonder that the Cactus
is not more generally grown as a house plant, when one con-
siders the inexpressible beauty of many of their flowers.

Photo 148
Flowers of the Night-blooming Cereus.

Probably no plant excites more interest than those com-
monly known as the Night-blooming Cereus. Nothing equals
the exquisite beauty of these nocturnal visitors in all the deli-
cate, wax-like structure of its flower, with fragrance unsur-
passed. The flat-leaved variety commonly called "Xight-bloom-
ing Cereus" is a Phyllocactus. The flowers of one of these are
shown in Photo 148. This picture was taken about ten o'clock
at night by the aid of a common lamp, with fifteen minutes' ex-
posure. The plant was photographed the following day as
shown in number 149, on the lady's lap. It seems strange that
more of these wonderful, desert plants are not adopted by the
people.

There was a remarkable coincidence in connection with this
"night-bloomer," a few years ago. I was twelve miles from

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165

home one night (17th of September, I think) and the whole com-
munity was interested over the blooming of one of those shown
in the two accompanying photos. It was a large plant and had
seventeen flowers in all. On our way we passed a house where
there was a "slip," a year old, from the one we were going to
see ; this, also, had two fine expanded flowers. The following
week the papers reported that Mrs. called in the neigh-

Photo 149
Plant which Bore Flowers shown in Photo 148.

bors to see the glory of her Night-blooming Cereus which had
eleven flowers, (on the same night as the two above described,)
and a Cleveland paper reported the blooming of a very large one
in Bedford, (().) the same night. About a month after, passing
a house eight miles from home and seeing one of these plants, a
very large one, the lady remarked, "You should have seen it
when in bloom." Tracing back to the date, it seemed to be the

166

THE TREE DOCTOR

same as the others, or the night after. This coincidence might
have just "happened," but it is worthy of consideration by lovers
of these strange plants.

It is a known fact that the Cactus will stand a good deal of
"hard usage," but it does not follow that it is wise to neglect or
abuse them. Good drainage and light soil is what they need ;
soil that is composed of rotted sods, sand and leaf-mould. There
is nothing easier grown, or prettier for winter than what is
known as the "Crab Cactus," especially when grafted into a
stronger grower.

Photo 150, Pruning Altheas.

Among the interesting flowering shrubs are the "Altheas,"
so-called. But few plants are easier to grow. In regions where
the "changes" are extreme they sometimes "winter-kill." A
little protection, as suggested for the Rhododendrons, might
avert trouble. It is known that with their rapid growing ten-
dencies, and "crotched" joints they have a strong tendency to
split. In the eastern states, a method of pruning back has come
into favor as shown in Photo 150. This is done in winter or
early spring, and from the one or two eyes left on each branch
strong flower shoots are developed, resulting in the compact
flower display, shown in 151.

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167

Photo 151
Result of Pruning Altheas Severely.

Photo 152
Ornamental Effect of Grasses.

168 THE TREE DOCTOR

A very fine effect is produced by the use of the ornamental
Grasses. The triangle, shown in Photo 152, is quite striking. In
the center is Arundo Donax, commonly called the "Corn-plant.''
It is supposed by some to be the "reed shaken by the wind," of
Scripture. On the outside is the fine-cut Eulalia Graclis.

Of course you cannot afford to leave out of your collection
the hardy Hydrangea shown in Photo 153. Of all the hardy

Photo 153
Hardy Hydrangeas are Effective.

shrubs, not one is such a prolific bloomer, and not one holds its
flower so long. Some plants, like certain songs, "are here to
stay;" Hydrangea Paniculata Grandiflora is one of them. To
get the best results from the Hydrangea, attend to the -drainage,
dig deep, give good soil and prune somewhat severely. First
cut out one-half of the weaker branches entirely — clear back to
the older wood. Then clip back the remainder about one-third
of their length. This gives you less flowers in number, but

THE TREE DOCTOR 169

makes up in size, as shown in Photo 153. Bushes of this plant
that are not sufficiently pruned will have a great many flowers,
but small ; when by severe pruning they would be as big as one's
hat.

THE CHRYSANTHEMUM.

Among the charming fall flowers that I remember in boy-
hood's days — in Old England — was the Chrysanthemum ; but to
see one measuring more than three inches in diameter was a
wonder. Mr. David McFarlane (Photo 157) showed me a speci-
men last fall measuring twenty-three inches. The improvements
that have been made are infallibly prophetic that there are great
possibilities ahead ; "improvements," perhaps, of such superior
character, of which the mind has scarcely dreamed. The Chrys-
anthemum, alone, would be a "witness" to this fact.

In Photo 154 you have a view, to the left, of the "bush-
grown" Chrysanthemum that took the prize at the flower-show,
at Tarrytown, N. Y. This is a partial view of the Chrysanthe-
mum-house at Mr. Wm. Rockefeller's, Rockwood Hall. You

Photo 154
Prize winner, Flower Show, Tarrytown, N. Y.

170

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 155
Chrysanthemums grown at Wm. Rockefeller's, Tarrytown, N. Y.

will notice how they grade back— in height — to the right.
The tallest are seen in Photo 155. Mr. Middleton, the chief gar-
dener and florist, is seen among the plants. He is standing on
a three-foot step-ladder ; some of the plants were twelve feet
high. Mr. Middleton is a Scotchman, and like most of the old-
country-trained men, he is thoroughness to perfection. People
remark, "Oh, well, at Rockefeller's and such places, where they
have everything to do with, this is easy." It is true there are
great advantages at places where houses are especially construct-
ed, and there is "everything to do with ;" nevertheless, it is also
true that all the facilities in existence will not produce the re-
sults if you have not "the right man behind the gun/' As pre-
viously remarked, America is woefully lame in that there is no
system of drilling the boys in a manner to turn out first-class
"workmen" in these particular lines. Xow and then a lad with
innate love of the profession has come to the front. Of course,
the country is "young." but wre are certainly "old" enough to

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171

commence a systematic training of gardeners, florists and prac-
tical foresters. Let this be thoroughly agitated.

A Chrysanthemum nine feet in diameter is said to have re-
cently taken the prize at the flower-show in Chicago. In Photo
156 there is a partial view of one eleven feet in diameter ! This
was grown by Mr. David McFarlane (seen also in Photo 157),
at Mr. Emil Berholzheimer's, Tarrytown, N. Y. The plant was
too large to be taken out of the greenhouse, so that it was not

Photo 156
Eleven Feet in Diameter.

exhibited at the flower-show. Mr. McFarlane, also, is a Scotch-
man, and in him I have a hearty co-worker for the protection of
roots. He fully understands the destruction befalling millions
of plants, annually, through lack of knowledge on this vital
point. The reason he had such fine success with the specimen in
Photo 156 was that, after the final "shift" into the pot in which
it was to be "flowered," he plunged the flower pot into the midst
of a tub of sand. Tf florists who have to battle with so much
"mildew" on the leaves of their "Mums" would "plunge" their

172

THE TREE DOCTOR

pots, the feeders would not perish, as they often do, affecting
the foliage and laying the foundation for fungoid diseases.

A very few suggestions will aid the amateur. Assuming
that you have a healthy plant, in the fall, as soon as the flowers
are gone, cut the wood off down close to the ball of earth. Sink
the crock in the ground in some sheltered place. Cover to keep
from hard freezing. In the spring lift the crock and place it
where it will start to grow, (the kitchen window is a good place.)
The young growth will start as thick as grass. Pull off a few of
the strongest and put them in moist sand. They "root" in a
short time. Place them first into two-inch pots. "Shift" every
two weeks, from two to three-inch pots, three to four, four to
five, five to six, six to eight. Keep them "plunged" all the while
either in the ground or a box of sand. Toward fall stand them
in an organ box with top and front off, ("plunged" of course.)
On cold nights throw canvass or old carpet over, and you will
have "Mums" till nearly Christmas.

Photo 157
Chrysanthemum measuring Twenty-three Inches.

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173

Photo 158, In perfect Health.

THE CAUSE OF FAILURE.

The failure of millions of people in the United States to suc-
cessfully grow plants and flowers — also trees — arises, not from
a lack of interest or a willingness to spend money, but from la-
mentably defective education. They see trees, wild shrubs and
flowers growing freely and blooming in abundance; they know
that all these have tops and roots, and that — in some way — by
the action of the rain and sunshine, they produce the charming
results which they are permitted to behold. So lacking are these
people in education that they seem to imagine that all they have
to do is to stir the soil, drop in a few seeds and that nature will
do the rest. "Nature" may be fully depended on, and if there
happens to be a big, plump Burdock seed alongside of the Pansy
seed that you have planted, Nature lends her aid to both ; she is
"no respector of persons" — or seeds — but the Dock being the
easiest to germinate, the more vigorous and hardy, "gets the

174 THE TREE DOCTOR

start," and the slower and frailer Pansy has "no show," and suc-
cumbs to "the survival of the fittest." Good people, remember
that all our cultivated flowers, vegetables, fruits, and many
shrubs and trees are the production of years, and some of centu-
ries, which have evoluted them, bringing them from the lower to
the higher forms of productiveness, both in bloom and fruit.

Photo 159, A graceful Tree.

But, almost universally, the improvement of the flower or the
fruit is accompanied with a proportionate weakening of the
plant. This is illustrated with the Coleus. The larger the leaf
and richer the coloring, the weaker the plant ; hence, many of
them cannot be used for bedding, because they will not stand the
sun. This principle is shown, also, in the improvement of man.
Take the college professor and put him out in the wigwam and
let him secure his living from roots, nuts. etc. Could he hold
his own with the Indian? No, he would perish. Shall we,
therefore, go back to the hardier life of the aborigine? Nay,

THE TREE DOCTOR

175

but let us adapt the surroundings to the advanced conditions
both for human and plant life.

The principal object of these pages on "Better Flowers" is
to show you, first : that you must get rid of the surplus water —
by drainage. Second : feed the plant. Third : care for and
protect the root. You will get your "crop" of flowers or fruit as
a reward for "services rendered."

Photo 160
Poor Taste in Terracing.

Having now given you the "key" you can unlock the store-
house of Nature's inexhaustible supply. If you ignore the fun-
damental principles underlying the success with all plant-life,
you would do better to give the money that you spend for seeds
and plants to the Salvation Army, and save yourself the annoy-
ance of failure ; but you will try, will you not? I would suggest
that you experiment with some of the commonest plants.

You will probably want Mignonette. These will not trans-
plant. Take a few small flower-pots, fill with earth, press down
gently ; drop in four or five seeds, lightly cover with sand.
They grow readily. Don't let the earth dry out ; keep the pots

176 THE TREE DOCTOR

"plunged" in a box of sand. After the frost is over, plant out.
This you do by placing the fingers of the left hand on the ball of
earth, give the crock a light tap and the contents easily comes
out. Sweet • Alyssum, Candytuft, Chinese Pinks, Phlox Drum-
mondii, and almost any plants can be "forwarded" two or three
weeks in this way, or you can wait later and plant all in the open
ground. The Zinnias are superb for cut flowers. The Balsams
are very easy to grow and nothing is more free-blooming.
Geraniums, Heliotropes, Lantanas, Feverfews and double Pe-
tunias are more satisfactory if you procure the plant, as the sea-
son is too short when grown from seed. The single Petunia,
however, makes a ready growth from seed, and gives healthier
plants. Verbenas and Salvia Splendens do best from seed, but
should be started early — indoors — the latter part of February or
the beginning of March.

In order to succeed in anything one must ''know how."
Good reader, by the use of the camera, and by the simplest expla-
nations, I have endeavored to make the subject plain. Xow if
you want flowers (presuming that you "know how") I will give
five rules that will insure success. First, work ; second, watch ;
third, work; fourth, work; fifth, Work!

You can learn the character, habits and merits of all plants
from the Florists' Catalogs, Magazines, Horticultural Papers or
other descriptive works.

CHAPTER V

LANDSCAPING, "STIFF" AND "FREE" — LESSONS FOR SMALL HOMES-
LESSONS ON A LARGE SCALE FROM THE WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER

ESTATE, AND OTHERS— THE USE OF VINES AND How
TO GROW THEM— ORNAMENTAL PRUNING— FUT-
URE FORESTRY— A LUMBER FAMINE —
TWENTY FORMULAS FOR THE
DESTRUCTION OF "SCALE,"
INSECTS AND FUNGUS.

LANDSCAPING.

Almost everything is liable to run into "fads" and go to ex-
tremes. Thirty years ago much was said and written about
"Terracing," and quite a few people thought "to be in the fash-
ion" they must have the lawn "terraced." As to whether it is
desirable or not depends upon elevation, depth of lawn, etc.
There are places where the raise is abrupt with but little depth of
front ; here the "terrace" is the only plan. The work shown in
Photo 160 was of very poor taste and a needless expense. It is
a neat, well-built house, but on the highest point of a hill and the
cellar wall is two feet higher than it need have been. In order
to build a .narrow plateau in front they dug away the earth in
the lawn below. The way that the work was done makes it very
difficult to take care of the embankment. Then, the "stiffness"
of the whole arrangement is utterly objectionable unless in some
country place where nothing but natural scenery was ever looked
upon ; and even then a person would soon tire of it. The plant-
ing, also, has the same "stiffness." There are two cut-leaf
Birch, two Irish Juniper, and two and two of a number of shrubs.

On the other hand, the "spirit-level lawn" is just as objec-
tionable to the eye, and an uniform inclined plane is not much
better. But the great misfortune is, men drift from the cob-
12 (I77)

178 THE TREE DOCTOR

bier's bench, tin shop, the ditch or any other vocation and pose
as "landscapers." Photo 161 shows a grade that (on a small
scale) always attracts attention. The gentleman who built this
carefully figured all the elevations, and by the time the cellar
dirt was disposed of there was but very little hauling needed to

Photo 161
Pleasing to the Eye and Easily Cared for.

complete the lawn. This is not only graceful to the eye but also
very easy to mow and otherwise care for.

In the picture presented in Photo 161 you have a fine, "open
lawn center." The shrubbery is forced back to the sides and
into nooks and corners.

Looking at Photo 162 there is something bare and unattrac-
tive at the first sight, and everything looks out of proportion.

THE TREE DOCTOR

179

Photo 162
Bare and Unattractive May First.

Photo 163
Transformed in Nine Weeks.

180

THE TREE DOCTOR

This photo was taken the first week in May and the lawn was
said to be "graded." Nine weeks afterward, it appeared as seen
in Photo 163 ; quite a transformation. Here was a case where
a terrace had to be used to get any space at all on which one
could comfortably stand in front of the house. But you will
notice that in forming the embankment all sharp points were
avoided, and there is an ease about it, wherever you look.

Photo 164
Five weeks after Photo 163

Notice, also, the effect of the vines. Instead of looking on a
great, lifeless, angular object, the eye glides from the soft green
of the grass to the variety of life in the vines. See this same
front taken again five weeks later, in Photo 164. In 169, you
see the right-hand panel of the railing as it appears still five
weeks later. See, also, the huge Caladium Esculentum grow-
ing in the old hollow logs — to the left. If you step to the right
— up around the house — and look around the corner down to-

THE TREE DOCTOR 181

ward the front, this is what you see, as presented in Photo 165.
What a charm! What is home without a vine? "Yes, but
'too much expense for a poor man,'" do you say? No, not at
all ! How much do you suppose the whole cost was ? Two
Caladium bulbs, twenty-five cents each ; eight packets of seed,
five cents each. There are thousands of common laborers who

Photo 165
At the Side of the House.

spend more than that every week for tobacco — to burn — for their
own pleasure, while the humble little abode — that might be con-
verted into a "home" — goes as lifeless and desolate outside as the
souls are within. How long it takes people to learn that to miss
heaven here is to miss it for eternity !

In every land and every clime

Adorn your "home" with shrub and vine.

182

THE TREE DOCTOR

One of the ever-fascinating charms of life comes from the
almost infinite variety of forms with which we are brought in
contact. Take, for example, the size and form of the leaves and
flowers of the vines surrounding the house now under consider-
ation. In ninety days from time of planting, the heavy vines

Photo 166
Leaf and Flower of Hercules' Club Vine.

seen in Photo 164 (or at the time when 169 was taken) had
grown thirty feet, and hung with the odd and attractive gourds
(the Hercules Club variety,) as seen in that picture. The leaf
and the flower of this wonderful vine are seen in Photo 166.
Beside this coarse — but beautiful — leaf is held a leaf of the
charming Cypress vine. The leaves and flowers of the Cypress
can be seen, also, in Photo 167. The Cypress was growing on

Photo 167
Leaves and Flowers of Cypress Vine.

the side of the house shown in Photo 165, next to the gourd
vines. Then came the Balloon vine, while on the old stump of
a tree were the variegated Hops, and over the kitchen was a rank
growth of Morning Glories. The "vines" seem to disappear in
proportion as "homes" give way to tenantry. The charm of

THE TREE DOCTOR 183

vines, on the houses of rich or poor, can be seen in the series of
photos from 103 to 114, inclusive. The last one named, how-

Photo 168
An Abundance of Pansies.

ever, (114) should teach a lesson of warning. If allowed to
"hug" the trees in this way, and climb all over them, as they
ultimately will, it will be the death of the tree. (In England they
have to make a fight, in the woodlands, to keep down the Eng-

Photo 169
Right hand Panel of Porch.

lish Ivy.) Boston Ivy is the best vine in America for brick or
stone houses. See it in Photos 103 and 106. On the church in

184

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Sewickley, Pa., there are two kinds (Photo 109) ; the Boston Ivy
on the end of the church and lower part of the tower, while the
upper part of the tower has the more loose-growing Virginia
Creeper, or "American Ivy." More of the Japanese Clematis,
(Paniculata) shown in Photo 108 should be planted for trellises,
fences, rock-work, etc. This particular specimen was cut off,
in spring, down to where Captain Reno is pointing with the um-
brella.

Phto 170
Red Clover is Rank.

In landscaping the first consideration should be the preser-
vation of trees, if there are any on the premises. Remember,
root protection is what you must insist on. If you have pur-
chased a property having large trees and you intend to build on
it because the trees are there, don't let a man destroy them be-
cause he calls himself a "Landscape architect." Large trees
may be either raised or lowered, and done in a way to improve
the growth of the tree, though it may be quite an expense to do
it. But if you are fifty years old and you have purchased prop-

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185

erty with trees of the same age, you cannot afford to have them
destroyed and to start in with having a planting of young ones.
The next thing is the procuring of a good, strong sod. It
is very essential to have the lawn clean. There is but one way
to do this, i. e., fix the grade and then let it lie, if you do the
filling in the spring, working over the whole surface every two
weeks, all summer; by the tenth of September you will have
killed nearly every weed, and seed sown at this time is almost
sure to "catch," and will become established before the heavy
freezing, and a fine, clean lawn will follow the next spring. Or
you can fill in and get grade in place in the fall, and let be over

Photo 171, Timothy is Coarse.

winter. It will come up thick with weeds in the spring. Hoe or
cultivate all over as soon as dry enough. Rake off and let it be
another ten days. Hoe and cultivate again, then rake off and
sow seed.

The kind of grass seed is . of considerable importance.
Timothy is always a "sure catch," but it is coarse, and should be
used sparingly, if at all. The character of the plant can be seen
to the right — in Photo 171. The bunch to the left is Kentucky
blue grass which is considered the best "all round" grass that
can be used on a lawn, though there are finer kinds. Don't use
Red Clover ; it is too rank a grower for lawn purposes, as shown
in Photo 170. A bunch of the White Clover is shown on the
left in that picture ; it is a fine variety for lawn purposes.

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ORNAMENTAL TRIMMING.

"From one extreme to the other" is the way of the world.
A quarter of a century ago all went to "trimming" into ornamen-
tal forms. Now some landscapers are preaching "under no con-
sideration have a shorn tree ; copy after Nature and Nature
alone." This extreme is better than the other, but instead of
an extreme in anything, it is wiser to use good judgment. Is
there anything beautiful in the "natural appearance" of the Irish
Juniper, with its half-dead, ragged top, in Photo 174? All that
dead center could even now be taken out and, by the use of a
couple of bits of copper wire, the base could be drawn in and
fastened into a neat pyramidal form; any objection? To the
right and left of the entrance to the burial lot, seen in Photo
173, are two shorn Norway Spruces. They were cut back and
"trimmed" in August, 1881. At that time, (before cutting,)
they were the same size as the tall Spruce in the rear. The an-
nual pruning cuts away the new growth and stunts the roots

Photo 172
Leaves of Virginia Creeper, Hop, Boston Ivy, Poison Ivy and Plantain.

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187

Photo 173, Shorn Norway Spruces.

in proportion to the foliage removed. The shorn hedge, in that
picture, was cut down the same time as the two Spruces, and
has been held practically at the same height ever since.

As to whether the "ornamental" be adopted depends on lo-
cation. To adopt the use of ornamental trees in a city lawn
would be inexcusable if not reprehensible. In a city every-
thing is artificial ; hence all planting should be natural. Reverse
the order ; go out ten miles from a city, and see nothing but
weeds, elderberry and blackberry bushes and it is a relief to
come upon a place where an occasional shorn tree or bush
breaks the monotony. See the charming effect at Mr. Whether-
lee's/Orienta Point, N. Y., in Photo 134.

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Photo 174
There is no Beauty in Half Dead Trees.

Shorn and trained trees are always in good taste in a coun-
try cemetery, but not in a city cemetery. The Streetsboro,
(O.) cemetery was "landscaped" and many of the young Arbor
Vita, Spruce and Hemlock trees put under training eighteen
years ago, and, since that, it has been the admiration of people
from both country and city.

Every child should know vines at sight. In Photo 172, at
the upper left-hand corner, is a leaf of the Ampelopsis Quinque-
folia (Virginia Creeper), five lobes to the leaf. To the right of
that is a variegated Hop leaf, in form much like the Maple. Few
people seem to know the beauty of this vine, and most of those
who do try to grow it nearly starve it to death. Vines, in gen-
eral, may be treated like foliage plants — heavily fed. Ampelop-
sis Veitchii (Boston Ivy) seems to thrive where nothing else will,
and nothing will cover a wall so completely, (see the house in
Photo 135.) The leaf of the Boston Ivy is seen in the middle
of the panel, Photo 172. See how different in form the "Ameri-
can Ivy." to the left, above it. The "poison Ivy" should be

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189

avoided ; you can tell it by the leaf — in the lower left-hand cor-
ner. In certain localities it will run all over the ground. Some
cannot handle it ; and others are so susceptible to its virus that
the wind blowing from it will poison them. Nature, however,
supplies the antidote, the common "Plantain" — lower right hand
corner, growing nearly everywhere. Steep this plant — green or
dry — and use the "wash" freely and the poison will disappear.

THE PANSY.

No home seems complete without the Pansy, and they work
into the landscape admirably, blooming early in spring and late
in fall. No plant seems to have been more misunderstood.
Nearly all seed catalogues say, "plant the Pansy in partial
shade." This is erroneous advice. Turn to "Primer on Trees
and Birds," page 112, and see a row of white Pansies three hun-
dred feet in length — like a snow bank in the blazing hot sun,
the middle of July. See also Photo 115 in the same book, and
learn the lesson these photos teach. The Pansy is as hardy as
wheat, and may be sown in the early part of September and

Photo 175, Intelligent Landscaping.

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"wintered over," protected lightly after the ground is frozen ;
or the seed may be sown indoors in January and planted out in
spring. How nice when flowers are scarce to have an abun-
dance of Pansies! (Photo 168.)

LANDSCAPING— THE "FREE" OR NATURAL SYSTEM.

To speak of landscaping as a "system" does not seem right,
there is no "system" in producing best results. The success-
ful landscaper, like the poet, is born, not made. It requires not
an imitative but a creative mind. It is only on comparatively
large grounds that the genius of the landscaper can be displayed
to perfection, though his services are invaluable on the smaller
estates. Take for example Photo 175, (at Miss Robinson's, I
think, Orienta, N. Y.) There is a gentle slope, an ease, about
the grade of the lawn. Then one tree in front of the house has
been pruned to give a nice vista from within. The ignorant
"Tree butcher" would have slashed off the lower branches of the

Photo 176
On spacious Grounds of Gen. Carroll, Tarrytown, N. Y.

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191

towering, beautiful "Lime Tree," but someone with good sense
said, "Woodman, spare that tree !" To have removed the lower
branches of that majestic tree would have inflicted a damage on
that property that it would have taken a half century to repair.
Then, to the right, away back, is a shorn Evergreen, just enough
to bring out contrast.

Now look at Photo 176. This is landscaping on a larger
scale. It is one of the many charming views on the spacious
grounds of Gen. Carroll, Tarrytown, N. Y. The superb effect
produced here is not the work of an imitative mind, but thor-
oughly creative (would be pleased to "give credit" if I knew who
executed the splendid work.) Look at all the little nooks and
recesses, and the apparent, persistent attempts of old Mother
Nature to close in on that open space. To the left are the few
advancing Evergreens, as if they were leading the way of an
army that had been in ambush. Wherever the eye turns there
is inspiration to the soul and rest to the brain. Do we wonder
that people of "means" gravitate from the teeming cities to such

Photo 177
Rear of Rockwood Hall, Wm. Rockefeller's Home.

192 THE TREE DOCTOR

sights of rest and beauty? Some of the most refining', moral-
izing and spiritualizing influences are arising from the rural
homes of city people. It is this class of citizens who, having
saved a little money, will be among the first in the enterprise of
Restoration of the Forests.

ROCKWOOD HALL.

With an experience in Great Britain and also in this coun-
try, and with so many years of observation, I confess I have
never seen an estate that for compactness without stiffness, im-

Photo 178
Vegetable Garden, Rockwood Hall.

provements without artificiality and extent of variety that sur-
passes Rockwood Hall, Mr. Wm. Rockefeller's summer resi-
dence at Tarrytown, X. Y. The rear of this beautiful mansion
is seen in Photo 177. This faces easterly. The front faces
westerly and overlooks the Hudson River, some three miles
wide at this point. The view down the river I judge is about

THE TREE DOCTOR 193

fifteen miles, and it must be twelve or more up stream. Away
across the river are the fascinating "Palisades." In among the
trees and undulating surface, on the easterly side, are the coach
barn and extensive greenhouses and conservatories. Then be-
yond the greenhouses, looking down over the narrow but fer-
tile valley is the vegetable garden, seen in Photo 178. The trees
seen beyond the garden overhang Broadway, the finely macada-
mized street which is "Broadway" in New York and "Broad-

Photo 179
The Sheep are Cared for by a Shepherd.

way" in Albany. The charming woodlands seen rising beyond
are a part of Mr. Rockefeller's estate, about seven hundred
acres in all, I think. A great part of this is native woodland,
much of which could not be cultivated. The "grounds," how-
ever, that surround the house and extend to the woodlands are
quite extensive. A fine flock of Southdown sheep add a natural-
ness to the rural aspect, as can be seen in Photo 179. There
are no fences, but the sheep are cared for by a shepherd who
has two remarkably intelligent shepherd dogs. In the last-named
photo is seen a tall Hickory tree with two of our men in the top.
This is the tree shown in Photo 53. It is worth turning back to

194

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Photo 180
Mr. B. M. Hawks, Superintendent Rockwood Estate.

that, as it will give the reason why it was deemed advisable to
cut back the top. You will notice how the base was weakened ;
the wind, having such a leverage, might snap it off; so that the
extreme tips, just above the men's heads were taken off, wounds
dressed and "capped. " It was also given "root treatment" to
stimulate new growth.

Photo 181 is another fall view of these grounds. Scores of
equally charming scenes might be taken on the place. Indeed,
if you set a camera anywhere and close your eyes and snap the
shutter you procure a good picture. Turning back to the
"autumn" scene, you can get some idea of the fascinating
woodland scenes on this estate. The drives wind around,
down the glens, with rustic bridges across laughing brooklets;
on, on down to the embankment beneath which is the Xew York
Central R. R., skirting the edge of the Hudson River. On you
go, amid huge rocks, thousands of wild Rhododendrons, in
among the trees, out into the sheep pasture, hid again among

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195

shrubbery, out into a meadow with a herd of prime Jersey cows,
watched by a herdsman (there are no fences.) On you drive
among the ever-changing scenery, and everywhere you go there
is the same absence of "stiffness" as you see in Photo 182. The
gentleman in the buggy is Mr. B. M. Hawks, superintendent
of the Rockwood Hall estate. If you desire a better acquaint-
ance with him you may study him from Photo 180. This gen-
tleman, though not a "professional" is a natural landscaper. So
is Air. Rockefeller. Either of them could have been a "success"
at this "calling," far excelling many professionals who follow
it "for revenue only." America certainly has many genuine
"landscape architects," gentlemen who cannot be excelled in the
profession ; she has, also, those who are in it for money, as
proven "by their works." In addition to a lack of natural taste,
their business seems to be that of running up large bills by un-

Photo 181
Autumn Scene on Rockefeller Grounds.

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necessary excavations, making heavy "fillings" and destroying
trees thereby, and then crowding in "nursery stock" — ten to one
more than is necessary — with all the "scale" and other diseases
thrown in.

Photo 182
Driving over the Estate.

FRIEND OR FOE.

Much appears — in certain papers — about the "millionaire,"
and he is spoken of as "the foe of Labor." Some years ago,
when my attention was called to "the gulf between capital and
labor," I was led to believe that a man who is said to be a
"millionaire" actually possesses that many dollars in cash. Later
and closer attention to the matter revealed that a "millionaire,"
so-called, might be really "hard up" for cash ; that his "holdings"
may be only "stocks" estimated to be worth that amount.
Suppose, for example, that the "millions" are based on the esti-

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197

mated value of rolling mill property, and suppose that a "panic,"
like that of. 1873-4-5, happens, where are the million dollars?
They are not ; and the reputed "rich man" may not have bread in
the house for his family, as I knew a case in 1875.

Let's take two men starting with equal chances in any busi-
ness, oil business, if you like. A is a good man, a close figurer,

Photo 183
The Washington Rock, Mamaroneck, N. Y.

hard worker, but his evenings are spent in the bar-room. He
finally strikes a "gusher," said to be worth twenty-five thousand
dollars. He now "moves" in "higher society," and champagne
takes the place of beer, and cards suit him better than the dull-
ness >;of home life. He makes up his mind to "show the world
a thing or two;" he will get rich quick. "Poker?" Yes, sir! he
stakes the price of his "gusher." The "hand" is shown : fortune
gone. Where are his "friends?" yes, where? He "goes to the
dogs" and, finally, the county buries him, for the same reason
that the Irishman gave : "Ef they don't bury me for love, they
will for stank."

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B, on the other hand, may represent Wm. Rockefeller or
any other successful man. Born poor, had the "honor of work-
ing for a living;" invested a few dollars in "oil;" saved the pen-
nies ; rode horse-back through rain, sleet and snow ; brought
men together and formed a company ; put in pipe lines ; construc-
ted refineries ; brought down the price of oil ; made money ;
spent money in building a splendid house ; laid out spacious
grounds ; purchased horses, carriages, automobiles and made
miles of new and first-class roads. "Friend" or "foe" of labor,
which ?

FUTURE FORESTRY.

The "Father of our country" evidently knew something of
the uses of gun-powder, and a spiritualist might be inclined to
think that his disembodied spirit was present at the blasting of
the rock at Mamarpneck, N. Y., on the road that turns down to
Orienta Point, where the face of Washington was left — almost

Photo 184, Native Woodlands.

THE TREE DOCTOR 199

to perfection — when viewed from a particular spot. Not a chisel
or other tool has ever touched it; it is just as seen in Photo 183,
and is known as "The Washington Rock." With the memory
of George Washington is associated the memory of the Ameri-
can native forest, and one can imagine the anguish of soul en-
dured by those still with us who spent their childhood's early
days in the woodlands which then stood in all their pristine
glory, but have now passed away. I came, myself, early enough
(1873) to see much of the grandeur of Ohio's charming forests,
but nearly all have fallen before the woodman's ruthless ax.
We all, of course, understand that the clearing away of much
of the woodlands was a necessity, but the wholesale destruction
was utterly inexcusable. As illustrative of the wrongs: not
many years ago, an enterprising Dutchman "made a payment"
of fifteen hundred dollars on a five thousand dollar farm, sold
the timber for three thousand dollars, took to drinking, spent
the money and let the farm "go back" to the former owners,
minus one-half its value. He might just as consistently have
stolen and carted off one-half the farm.

Another case was that of a somewhat "fast" man who fell
heir to a hundred acres of land and, being pressed for money, sold
a piece of timber worth at least two thousand dollars for five
hundred dollars, and the "old homestead," with buildings tumb-
ling down, was let go to wreck because the vanities of a spend-
thrift son must needs be gratified.

Only a short time ago I walked for hours in the bit of purely
native woodland seen in Photo 184, and felt like praying for its
preservation, but prayer seems like a mockery when the cross-
mark is on the tree and the "heir" must needs get money! Was
"Liberty" conferred for no higher purpose than gratification?

In circular number 33 of the United States Department of
Agriculture, giving the substance of the proceedings of that
memorable American Forest Congress, held in Washington,
D. C., January 3-6, 1905, in discussing the evils of sheep pastur-
ing in the woodlands of the West, it was shown that the animals
ate the young seedlings and thus prevented new trees forming
a forest growth. One point was entirely overlooked or, at any
rate, does not appear in the circular ; namely, that by keeping
down the young growth, the grass "gets a start" and the death

200 THE TREE DOCTOR

of the tree speedily follows. This has been pointed out in the
earlier part of this work. In about all the thinned-out wood-
lands through the country, trees are dying and the people do
not know the cause. There are places now in the city of Pitts-
burg, Pa., which but a few years ago were fine examples of the
primeval forest. Owners of such property thinned out the
trees so that grass might grow and look more lawn-like, so as

Photo 185
Dying because of Luxuriant Growth of Grass.

to sell more readily as residence building lots. Now the trees
are dying as seen in Photo 185. "Where trees begin to "go
back" in this way in the forest, harvest them at once ; for just
as soon as death sets in decay follows, and it becomes the breed-
ing place for every kind of borer, beetle and grub, and the timber
is soon unfit for marketable purposes. Such trees, however,
can be preserved as shade trees and, with proper care, will make
a new growth over the old and injured parts. Remember that
vour lawn and fruit trees should be keot clean. The old loose

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201

bark should be rubbed off with an old curry-comb, a good em-
ployment for children (Photo 186.) The Elms, seen in Photo
191, have been thoroughly cleaned and were treated to the
"lime, sulphur and salt" formula, for the destruction of insects.
A full list of formulas for destroying insect pests is given in the

Photo 186
Rubbing off Old, Loose Bark.

last pages of this work, reproduced from one of the bulletins
of the Ohio Experiment Station.

The "woodsman" has not been the only destroyer of trees.
The average "sportsman" and the boy with the "Flobe-rt Rifle,"
unintentionally, have been their enemy, by killing their protec-
tors, the birds. Should the increase of the Web-worm continue

202

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in the same ratio for the coming ten years that it has in the
past five, it is a grave question if practically all the trees of Ohio
will not be destroyed. I speak of Ohio because here, in the
greater absence of woodlands, the "homes" of birds (the trees,
vines and bushes) are lacking and, consequently, the increase
of the destructive pest is greater.

I was passing, five years ago, and saw a "nest" of those
worms on the tree at the rear of the buggy seen in Photo 187.
I had a strong impulse to get out and set fire to them, but I neg-
lected a duty. A year after the tree was defoliated and, passing
there last fall, I discovered that the trees in the whole neighbor-
hood were leafless. They (the worms) are now all over the
country, and playing sad havoc with the forests. No tree can
long survive without its foliage. In the east they tell me that
the stripping of the elms, by the elm-leaf beetle, five years in
succession, kills the tree. Last October I went from Pittsburg,
Pa., to Marietta, O., on the B. & O. R. R. and it was almost
heart-rending to see the destruction of trees by this web-worm.
Almost every Hickory and Walnut tree for the whole distance

Photo 187
The Work of the Web-worm.

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203

Photo 188
The Canker-worm has Attacked the Tree.

had been defoliated and covered with nests, as seen on the tree
in front of the horse, in Photo 187, and thousands of trees were
standing dead, killed by the repeated attacks of this foe. It is
spreading rapidly also in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York
and all the eastern states that I have visited. The work of the
canker worm is seen in Photo 188. In May and June, 1905, at
Sewickley, Pa., they destroyed the foliage of trees in miles of
woodlands. These "judgments" are befalling us as punishments
for our ignorance in destroying the native birds. This matter
is discussed in full in "A New Era in Tree Growing," showing
what must be done to remedy the trouble.

A LUMBER FAMINE.

Some two years ago an eminent French authority gave the
reason for the approach of a "lumber famine" for the whole
world. The substance of his reasons were about as follows :

204 THE TREE DOCTOR

Europe, Asia and a part of Africa are using more lumber
than they are producing, and even [Mexico is consuming one
hundred times more than she produces ; that Siberia and South
America have large areas of forests, but they are too far from
the sea-board to be exploited with profit ; and that the United
States and Canada are the only two countries that have any
considerable hard wood for the world's market.

Photo 189
"Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree."

Following our reports of the States, it seems that for every
two acres we are destroying we are planting one tree ! Canada
will have "wood to burn" when we are treeless ; for they seem
to take in the situation and practice conservation. Let the mind
go back, say two hundred years. Picture to yourself those beau-
tiful New England hills covered with Pine. Spruce and Hem-
lock. Imagine yourself in a modern flying machine, sailing
westward. You go into ecstasies over the sublime, towering
Pines on the hills and mountains of New York and Pennsyl-
vania. Your soul is thrilled at the sight of the giant Oaks,

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205

Walnuts, Liriodendrons, Maples, Beeches and all the common
"hard woods'' on the level portions of New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania and practically all of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana ;
and if you were a Methodist you would feel like singing "Glory
to God," as you hear His praises sung by the winds in the vast

Photo 190
Living among the Trees.

pineries of Michigan. As you witnessed the destruction by
"slashing" and "logging" and ventured the remark "this waste
is wrong, sirs," you would receive the jeers of ninety-nine, and
the wise remark from the hundredth, "an abundant, inexhaust-
ible supply, sir; utterly inexhaustible!" But to-day, where are
the glorious Pines and majestic hardwoods? Gone! Never-
more to be seen by mortal eyes !

The Gulf States still have large areas of Pine, but those
who are watching the denudation say that, in twenty years,
those pineries "will be practically destroyed, and that at the

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Photo 191
Elms cleaned of old Bark.

present rate of destruction the Redwoods and Coniferas of the
great Pacific slope will be swept away in fifty years. Not one
out of a hundred, if one out of a thousand, seem to realize the
gravity of the situation. They know the price of lumber is
''going up." It seems that the great lumber companies have
competed so violently that they have kept the wholesale price
down. Though lumber is growing scarcer all the time, our fa-
cilities for hauling from the South or West are such that the
country will not wake up to the destruction of the forests until
the end, and the report comes back, "no more!" One feels like
sinking into the earth to even contemplate the end of the Ameri-
can forests, and yet this must come unless there is a general
awakening, conservation practiced with what we have, and re-
planting commenced with vigor.

The Forest Congresses are throwing new life into those
interested in the work, but I fear, from the report jiist referred

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207

to (circular 33), that there may be wrong impressions by that
body of noble men and women as to the real area of forests in
existence in the United States. In the speech by Hon. Gifford
Pinchot, he is quoted as saying: "It should be remembered
by every forester, and every man interested in forestry, that the
woodlands in farms are about three times as great in extent as
all the national forest reserves." This remark was thrown out
as an encouragement to all to conserve what they have and thus
co-operate with the government and the great lumber com-
panies. By the expression "woodlands in farms," has the gen-
tleman reference to what would be listed as such in Ohio or any
of these Eastern States?

Twenty years ago there were hundreds of pieces of "timber
lots" in this region, pure, native woodlands, with gigantic speci-
mens of the hard woods. From fifteen to ten years ago those
same pieces of native forests resounded with the axe, buzz of the

Photo 192
Weeping Beech, Hill-and-Dale Farm, Mamaroneck, N. Y.

208 THE TREE DOCTOR

saw-mill and profanity of the average woodsman. To-day, for
a radius of fifty miles, I do not know of that many acres of un-
broken native forests all told. If a person, not acquainted with
the real condition, were to drive through this region, he would
suppose there were thousands upon thousands of acres ; espec-
ially would he form the opinion in the summer and fall months

Photo 193
A Model Entrance Drive.

when the trees are in foliage. These are "culls" left, that the
lumber men had no use for, and I suppose they are entered as
"woodlands." I am traveling most of the time and have ridden
on nearly all the railroads in Ohio, and I am safe in saying that,
in this State, there is not one-tenth, and probably not a hun-
dredth part of the timber in existence that there is supposed to
be. What people imagine to be "woods," containing valuable
timber, are nothing but "groves," with the "saw-timber" cut out

THE TREE DOCTOR 209

and now growing up to grass for pasturage, and thus destroy-
ing trees that would become fit for marketable lumber. Even
the trees big enough for cross-ties are cut out and sold. I find
a great many prominent gentlemen say "Pooh !" at this, and af-

Photo 194
Cutting away the Timber Dries up the Stream.

firm that there is "any God's quantity of good Oak trees in this
country for fifty years to come." Mr. Grafton, Chief of the Sig-
nal Service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, knows bet-
ter, and realizes the gravity of the situation, as do nearly all
railroad men. If railroad "cross-ties" are so abundant as some
would 'have us believe, why does Mr. E. H. Harriman order one

210

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million ties from Japan, at fifty-five cents each, to use in the line
that he is constructing in Mexico?

We are told that Japan has "vast areas of forests." How
"vast" on an island scarcely visible on the map? With the mod-
ern equipment for destroying forests, and converting the trees
into "lumber," how many years will the timber of Japan supply
the market?

CONSUMPTION OF LUMBER BY THE RAILROADS.

In the report of the American Forest Congress, already
quoted, is a part of the speech of Howard Elliott, President of
the Northern Pacific Railway, from which I make the following
extract : "The total annual consumption of cross-ties, for re-
newals only, by all the railroads of the United States, is at least
one hundred million, to which add twenty million for additional
tracks in yards and the construction of new railroads and the
total is equivalent to more than four billion feet. The signifi-

PhocO 195, Gingko Tree.

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211

Photo 196, Among the Mountains.

cance of these figures is more apparent when it is remembered
that two hundred ties are about the average yield per acre of
forest, varying very greatly in different localities, so that to
supply this single item necessitates the denudation annually of
over one-half million acres of forest. But the cross-tie supply
is only one of the forest products required by the railroads.
There are bridge timbers, fence-posts, telegraph-poles, car ma-
terials and building timbers of all kinds, all of which, it is esti-
mated, will nearly equal, in broad measure, the cross-tie item ;
so that it is probable that the railroads of the United States re-
quire annually, under present practices, the entire product of
almost one million acres of forest." From the same pamphlet
I quote from the speech of Mr. David T. Day, Chief of the
Division of Mining and Mineral Resources, United States Geo-
logical Survey : "The miner has established his reputation as a
good customer of the lumberman, and is daily becoming a better

212

THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 197, A charming Vista.

one — For every ton of anthracite taken out of the mine, we must
put back a cubic foot of timber — that is to say. seventy million
cubic feet per year for the anthracite industry alone. Four mil-
lion cubic feet a year will hardly suffice for the underground
work in mines." These are only the "items" in railroading and
mining. What about the millions of tons of "pulp" for paper-
making and the uses of lumber in domestic and commercial life ?

EUROPE WILL SUFFER FOR OUR SINS.

When I was a boy it was considered very fortunate to be
the possessor of a few nice clean boards, a foot or so in length,
as lumber was so scarce that every bit was commonly worked
into some use by the carpenter who was trusted to handle it.
Some rural districts had no timber that was permitted to be cut,
but in the one in which I was raised, occasionallv a tree was al-

THE TREE DOCTOR

213

lowed to be "harvested;" but the greatest of care was taken to
dig down all around it, and far enough away so that the very
last inch of timber — at the base — could be secured. England
depended on the imported supply and probably does yet. The
same, it appears, is substantially true of all the other civilized
nations. The masses in those countries, like the masses in
America, know that "the lumber comes from somewhere" and
that is the extent of their thought on the subject. It is esti-
mated that the forests of America have represented one-fourth
of the commercial values of the country. Consider, also, what
this "capital" — the forest trees — meant in the early days.
About all a man needed was an axe, a blanket, a gun and am-
munition, and he could go into the woods, build a home and
fence a farm. He had his fuel and he had stove-wood to sell as
soon as a community formed, and logs for the saw-mill to be
converted into cash. These hundreds of millions of acres of
timber are gone — one-half, may be two-thirds — wasted ! Think
of the billions of dollars "changing hands" in shipping, export-

Photo 198
Don't Plant Hedges under Trees.

214

THE TREE DOCTOR

ing, carpenter and cabinet work, and its uses in wagon and car-
riage building, etc. What has been true in America, in regard
to the uses of timber, has also been true of other countries to
which it has been exported. To the forests alone must be cred-
ited the marvelous progress and even the inventions of the last
hundred and fifty years ; and, unless re-forestration be corn-

Photo 199, On the Hillside.

menced and prosecuted with energy, the "passing of the forests"
means the retrogression of civilization.

"What are you giving us? We are only in the infancy of
inventions ! The mind of man is marvelous ! As soon as one
thing is exhausted, he discovers something else ; we talk across
the ocean and soon will be riding through the air ; we'll need no
trains or ships ; besides, the bowels of the earth are full of coal
and ore. Away with your 'calamity howling' ; three cheers for
progress and the human brain !" That sounds "loud," even for

THE TREE DOCTOR

215

Photo 200
A fine River Scene.

Photo 201
Mountain scenery from Allegheny River,

216

THE TREE DOCTOR

a "blusterbund." Sir, it seems as if you might be a descendant
of the fellow who asked, "Is not this great Babylon which I have
built ?" As to the coal and ore supply, I prefer cool figuring to
exulting declarations. I well remember the boasts of thousands,
in 1873-4-5-6: "The pineries of Michigan are utterly inexhaus-
tible !" They have not thought that way in that region for over
ten years.

On the coal problem, an estimate was sent out in print re-
cently by a conservative, scholarly scientist. Seventy-five years
from now, he tells us, the coal beds of Europe will be practically
exhausted. "What of that? we have a plenty." Sure of that?
Enough for your time — may be, but is your time or my time
what we have to live for? Our scientist tells us that the world
is now using about eight hundred million tons of coal annually.
Ask your coal man to tell you the number of cubic feet in a ton
of average coal, then figure out the size of the little mountain
of eight hundred million tons, and ask your preacher to "an-
nounce" how long before the. coal trusts will notify the public:
"Scarcity in coal ; advance two dollars per ton over last year."

Photo 202
Overlooking the Ocean, Newport, R. I.

THE TREE DOCTOR

217

Photo 203, A peaceful River.

We are in the midst of the "Iron age," and ore is being used
at a rate which very few comprehend. A recent writer (who
seemed moderate in expression and a careful figurer) said that
thirty-five years will make such inroads on our "paying" ore-
beds that the price will be very high, and that fifty years from
now iron will be almost prohibitive for many purposes; yet our
"civilized" nations are digging out this valuable ore, construct-
ing it into "battleships," and using hundreds of millions of tons
of coal in them, only to blow them to pieces to gratify our brutal
instincts. Remember, the coal and ores — once gone — can never
be replaced.

There is but one thing that can be replaced which can be
used in erecting abodes, and also for motive power and fuel, viz ;
The Forests. But in destroying the forests we destroy the fa-
cilities for growing them or any other plant life. Cutting away
the timber dries up the streams. See Photo 194. Referring
again to the American Forest Congress report, here is what is
said by Hon. John F. Lacey, Representative in Congress from
Iowa: "I was born in the woods of Virginia. I moved to the

218

THE TREE DOCTOR

prairies, and one of the most unpleasant things of my subsequent
life was to return to the woods of Virginia and find that the old
streams and holes we used to swim in and where we used to go
fishing are now gravelly roads ! They are highways as dry and
arid as the deserts of Arizona or New Mexico. Why is it? Be-
cause the trees have been cut down and the springs, the children

Photo 204, Wild Grandeur.

of the forests, dried up. Instead of a slow running brook, dig-
ging- out holes here and there — clear as crystal — we have simply
a torrent carrying pebbles and sand from the hills, then a desert."
From the same pamphlet I quote Mr. J. B. Lippingcott,
Supervising Engineer, Reclamation Service : "A striking ex-
ample of the output of a barren, treeless, drainage basin is
shown in the case of Queen Creek, Arizona. This stream dis-
charges only in violent freshets, recurring usually as great flood
waves, subsiding almost as rapidly as they arrive. During the

THE TREE DOCTOR

219

larger part of the year the channel is almost dry. The area of
the drainage basin is one hundred and forty-three square miles.
In contrast with Queen Creek is Cedar Creek, in Washington.
The drainage area is the same as Queen Creek. It is heavily
timbered. In addition, the ground is covered with a heavy
growth of ferns and moss. The total annual rainfall in Cedar
Creek Basin, in 1896, was about eight times that in Queen Creek
Basin, yet the maximum flood discharge per second is only three

Photo 205, Falling leaves.

thousand six hundred cubic feet for the former, while the maxi->
mum for the latter was nine thousand cubic feet per second. The
mean discharge for Queen Creek was fifteen cubic feet per sec-
ond and for Cedar Creek one thousand and eighty-nine cubic
feet per second. These two streams represent extreme types.
The radical difference in their character is largely due to forest
cover."

The days of despair to advocates of reforestation are pass-
ing away. There were heard at the Forest Congress, President
Roosevelt; M. Jusserand, Ambassador from France; Hon. James

220

THE TREE DOCTOR

Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture ; Congressmen ; Rev. Edward
Everett Hale, Chaplain of Senate ; Presidents of Railroads ; Pres-
idents of the great Lumber Companies ; representatives of
Women's Clubs, and a host of others. What appeared very en-
couraging was a part of the report of Mr. J. T. Richards, Chief

Photo 206
The Beauty of a Curve.

Engineer of the Pennsylvania Railroad System. Said he :
"Within the last two years we have begun the planting of the
Yellow Locust trees on an extensive scale on property owned by
the Company." From what I can gather, a part of these plant-
ings are on the lands along by the tracks, embankments, nooks
and corners and strips of land such as I saw planted to them
along the Juniata River, between Harrisburg and Altoona, Pa.
Gentlemen, you are going to fail in such places. The plantings
that I saw had received no cultivation, and long grass was grow-

THE TREE DOCTOR 221

ing among them. It will be bordering on the impossible to keep
the fire out of the grass, and even if you could, with heavy sod
on the roots, it will be years before they will be anything but
gnarly runts. The first thing for this country to do is to rec-
ognize and then get fully acquainted with the laws that govern
the growth of trees, as well as of corn or potatoes; and the main

Photo 207
View in Central Park, New York.

point in these laws is the production of a heavy root; you get
the top as a reward for your work. You cannot produce
healthy trees on barren clay, lifeless gravel beds, starved lands,
or good land if covered with heavy sod.

There is not going to be a "wave" or "uprising" among the
people to go into tree planting for obvious reasons, among which
are these, viz ; There is a great deal of working farms "on
shares." Who, that is working "on shares," is going to plant
trees? He would rather cut them down ; his business is to "skin
the land," he is a land robber, and the one who rents to him is

222

THE TREE DOCTOR

his ally. Then, the man who is laboring under a heavy mort-
gage, is he going to plant when he knows a "foreclosure" might
befall him?

WHO WILL LEAD?

Within another thousand years humanity would perish from
the face of the earth — without reforestation. There is but one
people capable of leading the way in this movement, ths people
of the United States of America. They will do it, though the
steps will be slow at first. It is the only country that has the
scope of territory, variety of climate and, perhaps, I may add,
the quality of land. The marvelous Eucalyptus tree of
Australia is delighted with our mild climates. Catalpa Speciasa,
formerly confined to the Wabash Valley, is at home almost any-
where. Preparatory to this great reforestry movement, (which
must come, for the human race can't exist without it), teach the
children; get them to understand the different kinds of trees
and the types of each kind. Then have them learn of the char-
acter and form of the seed, teach them how to plant and care for

Photo 208
The use of Privet, Akron, Ohio.

THE TREE DOCTOR

223

these little baby trees, how to transplant them, etc. Thus in
ten years you will have, or might have, ten million children rais-
ing plants for the future forests, and in these occupations they
will be in touch with the most sacred influences known to the
human heart — in touch with Life itself.

The future Forests will start in the American school-house
and American home. Sad, sad indeed ! will it be for those who
have helped in destroying and wasting such a Divine Gift as the
forests ! But we learn from the mistakes of the past. The
world will progress with its civilizing influences. I have un-
shaken confidence in the triumph of the good that is in man.
He will learn the laws of moral and religious life from the
life that he sees in the flower, shrub and tree.

A LOST POWER.

"What moves the business world?" "Money," says one.
Mistake, sir! Money represents labor performed. The nations
of the old world found America ripe for labor ! Labor cut down
the trees, and with them built houses, fenced farms, made fuel,

Photo 209, Sunshine and Shadows.

224 THE TREE DOCTOR

Photo 210
"Oh, beautiful Fall, with Bloom for All."

constructed railroads, reared towns, villages and cities, and built
ships to sail the great rivers, lakes and oceans. The object in
constructing the great trunk steam railroads of the country was
what? To develop the country. The main lines are completed,
and the electric roads are now in "the boom" of construction.
Fifty years, (possibly twenty-five) will substantially complete
these. How is this going to affect industrial America? What
is back of the "prosperity" of to-day? Demand for iron and
steel in, first, railroading; second, the building of cities. What
necessitates the "city?" The bringing together of vast numbers
of people to smelt the ore, "roll" it out for use, etc.

My American-born friend, have you pondered on what is
coming? "Oh, something will turn up !" Yes, it will ; with forests
gone, and worn-out lands on hand, national poverty will "turn
up," and stare you in the face, if you don't help to avert the ca-
lamity. There will continue to be inventions, but after the rail-
roads are completed, and the great "boom" (caused by the de-
mand for iron and steel) ceases, what are the teeming millions
going to do that have drifted to the cities to obtain the high wages
paid during this period of prosperity? Go back to the land to
"raise their own living." Railroad traffic wrill decrease in pro-

THE TREE DOCTOR

225

Photo 211
Gathering wild Flowers, bank of Allegheny River.

portion. If we had the old forests to draw from we might keep
tip railroad traffic by the shipping and exporting of lumber ; but
inasmuch as the great power that moved the nation (the forests)
is gone, there is but one thing to do to perpetuate that power,

Photo 212
"When the Apple Trees Shall Bloom.'

226

THE TREE DOCTOR

viz ; replanting and growing of new forests on scientific princi-
ples by individual, state and national enterprises. America must
lead the world in this great international industry.

TWENTY FORMULAS FOR DESTROYING
INSECTS, ETC.

There was a constant call coming in for formulas for the
destruction of insects, "scale," fungous growth and the like, after
the old "Tree Doctor" went before the public. It contained but
few directions on these points, as it was supposed that about all

Photo 213
Where the Snow is Beautiful.

interested procured the various Bulletins issued by the State
Experiment Stations or the U. S. Agricultural Department, but
it seems that a host of people do not possess these or, being in
pamphlet form, they are easily mislaid. Therefore I take one
of the Ohio Experiment Station's Bulletins and annex it in full.
T do this for two reasons : First. — It is as reliable as can be
given, as this State has a splendid "Station," well equipped,
managed by as capable and faithful workers as can be found in

THE TREE DOCTOR

227

any institution of the kind in any other State. Second. — Giving
that which is reliable shields from the humbugs that are abroad
in the land. I frequently get letters announcing that the writer
has discovered some wonderful remedy for "plant lice," or some-
thing else, and suggesting that "there is money in the sale of
it," and that he would be glad if I would introduce it, etc. (lib-
eral commissions of course offered). With the highest apprecia-
tion of the work of the Ohio Experiment Station, I give you its
formulas, and suggest that you heed all "cautions" given in the
application thereof. They are found on the following pages;
"Spray Calendars" — and all.

CALENDAR FOR TREATMENT OF PLANT DISEASES
AND INSECT PESTS.

Prepared by W. J. Green and A. D. Selby.

This calendar for the treatment of diseased conditions in
plants is designed to cover the needs of farmers and horticultur-
ists. It was first prepared at the request of the Ohio Horticul-
tural Society. Fungicides and insecticides may often be com-
bined in spraying, and, where Bordeaux mixture is used for
fungous diseases, this practice is recommended. Spraying young
orchards with Bordeaux mixture from time of planting, and of
stocks in nursery row, is strongly recommended to preserve
healthy conditions.

REMEDIES.
FUNGICIDES.

1 Bordeaux Mixture I.

Copper Sulfate (blue vitriol) 4 pounds.
Quicklime (not air slaked) 4 pounds.

(Ordinary air slaked lime or hydrate of lime one-fourth more.)
Water to make 50 gallons.

Dissolve the copper sulfate in about two gallons of hot
water, contained in a wooden vessel, by stirring, or even better
by suspending the sulfate, contained in a cheese cloth sack, in a
large bucketful of cold water. With the cold water and cheese
cloth bag a longer time is required. Pour the sulfate solution
into the barrel or tank used for spraying, and fill one-third to
one-half full of water. Slake the lime by addition of a small
quantity of water, and when slaked cover freely with water and
stir. Pour the milk of lime thus made into the copper sulfate,
( 228)

THE TREE DOCTOR 229

straining it through a brass wire strainer of about 30 meshes to
the inch. Pour more water over the remaining lime, stir and
pour into the other ; repeat this operation until all the lime but
stone lumps or sand is taken up in the milk of lime. Now add
water to make 50 gallons in the tank. After thorough agitation
the mixture is ready to apply. The mixture must be made fresh
before using, and any left over for a time should be thrown out.

2 Bordeaux Mixture II.

Copper sulfate, 2 pounds.
Quicklime, 2 pounds.
(Or dry air slaked or hydrate of lime one-fourth more.)

Water to make 50 gallons.

For use on such trees as have foliage injured by Bor-
deaux I.

Stock solution and lime putty.

A solution of copper sulfate, containing say one pound of
sulfate to the gallon of water, may be made up and permitted to
stand indefinitely in a covered barrel if no lime is added. Such
a solution is known as a stock solution and two or four gallons
of this stock solution, according to the strength desired, is taken
for each 50 gallons of the mixture to be made. For extensive
spraying, a long trough or box of uniform width may be used,
in which to slake and keep the lime. The quicklime is weighed
out according to the amount needed, immediately placed in the
trough and slaked with a small quantity of water. The whole
is evenly spread and covered as a putty with water to exclude
the air. This putty may be removed in calculated portions,
placed in a tub and treated like the freshly slaked lime. By
means of stock solution of copper sulfate and the lime in putty
state, much valuable time is saved in filling the barrels or tanks
used in spraying.

3 Ammoniacal Solution of Copper Carbonate.

Copper carbonate, 6 ounces.
Ammonia, about 3 pints.
Water, 50 gallons.

Dissolve the copper carbonate in the ammonia and add the
water.

230 THE TREE DOCTOR

Caution — Use no more ammonia than is required to dissolve
the copper carbonate. Ammonia is variable in strength, and the
amount required must be tested in practice.

To make copper carbonate : Dissolve ten pounds copper
sulfate (blue vitriol) in ten gallons of water, also twelve pounds
of carbonate of soda in same quantity of water. When cool,
mix the two solutions slowly, stirring well. Allow the mixture
to stand twelve hours and settle, after which pour off the liquid.
Add the same quantity of water as before, stir and allow to
stand the same length of time. Repeat the operation again,
after which drain and dry the blue powder which is copper
carbonate.

4 Soda Bordeaux Mixture.

Copper sulfate, 4 pounds.

Commercial caustic soda, soda lye, (sodium
hydroxid) slightly in excess so that mix-
ture is alkaline — according to strength,
1 Ib. 5 oz. to 1 Ib. 8 oz. by testing.
Water to make 50 gallons.

To use instead of ammoniacal copper carbonate.
Warning — In each case of change of grade or brand of com-
mercial caustic soda it will be necessary to test the strength.
Keep the mixture well agitated.

To keep caustic soda — After opening a container and test-
ing, weigh out the entire contents into portions such as are
needed to make a single spray tank of mixture ; put in Mason
jars under shelter, cover with a pint or so of water, and this
portion is ready to be used as needed. Opened packages of
caustic soda will absorb water and increase in weight on stand-
ing; unopened packages will usually keep for a year or more.

5 Potash Bordeaux Mixture.
Copper sulfate, 4 pounds.

Caustic potash, potash lye, (potassium hy-
droxid) 1 Ib. 5 oz. to nearly 1 Ib. 8 oz. as
necessary for slight excess. (See soda
Bordeaux.)

Water to make 50 gallons.

THE TREE DOCTOR 231

For use like soda Bordeaux mixture instead of ammoniacal
copper carbonate.

Caution — Prepare like soda Bordeaux, only after test of the
strength of the caustic potash.

6 Copper Sulfate Solution.

Copper sulfate, 4 pounds.

Water to make 50 gallons.
Dissolve the sulfate as directed in Bordeaux I.
Caution — The solution will injure foliage. It can be used
only before the buds open.

7 Potassium Sulfid Solution.

Potassium sulfid (liver of sulfur) 1 ounce.

Water, 3 to 4 gallons.

This solution will not remain unchanged. The potassium
sulfid must be kept in a well stoppered bottle. This may be
made by a similar process to that of No. 8.

8 Sodium Sulfid Solution.

Commercial caustic soda, 2^ Ibs.

Flowers of sulfur, 5 Ibs.

After solution, water to make 50 gallons.

To make sodium sulfid at lowest cost : Place the caustic
soda in a metal vessel and add a little hot water. Then stir in
sulfur gradually, adding meanwhile hot water or applying heat.
The chemical reaction will generate heat. With its progress
the color will change from yellow to nearly brick red. No heat
is required after complete solution unless lime be added. Don't
add excess of water until the solution is effected. It may be
made in quantity with external heat and kept during a day as
stock solution. Excess of lime may be added with double or
triple portion of sulfur to make the possible equivalent of lime,
sulfur and salt solution.

Caution — This solution is prepared for application on dor-
mant trees. Care must be observed.

Upon foliage, as of peach, a strength greater than 1 Ib.
caustic soda to 2 Ibs. sulfur is not to be recommended.

232 THE TREE DOCTOR

To make sodium sulfid for treating seed potatoes, use at the
rate of 1 Ib. caustic soda to 10 oz. sulfur for 36 gallons of so-
lution.

9 Calcium Sulfid (Lime Sulfid).

Quicklime, 1 to 2 pounds.

(Or dry air slaked lime or hydrate of lime, one-fourth more.)
Flowers of sulfur, the same amount.
Water, 50 gallons.

Proceed as directed for first steps in making lime, sulfur
and salt mixture. Heat till the color has become red, showing
the formation of the lime sulfids. This will require an hour or
more. Dilution while warm is to be preferred, but the solution
should cool somewhat before applying on foliage.

Caution — While this may be used on the peach in foliage,
and upon other fruits, care should always be exercised in the
preparation to avoid injury to the foliage from the application.

10 Formalin.

For oats and wheat, 1 Ib. formalin to 50 gallons of water.

For potato scab and rosette, y2 pint of formalin to 15 gal-
lons water.

For onion smut, 1 Ib. of formalin to 25 or 33^ gallons of
water.

INSECTICIDES.
11 Kerosene Emulsion.

Dissolve one-half pound hard soap in one gallon of water
(preferably soft water) and while still boiling hot, remove from
the fire and add two gallons of kerosene. Stir the mixture vio-
lently by driving it through a force pump back into the vessel
until it becomes a creamy mass that will not separate. This re-
quires usually from five to ten minutes. The emulsion is then
ready to be diluted with water and applied. For the common
scale insects and hard bodied insects, like the chinch bug, use one
part emulsion to eight to ten parts of water. For soft bodied

THE TREE DOCTOR 233

insects (plant lice, etc.), use one part emulsion to fifteen or
twenty parts water.

Kerosene emulsion kills by contact, and therefore the appli-
cation should be very thorough. It may be used against a great
many different pests, but is especially valuable for destroying
those with sucking mouth-parts, for they cannot be killed with
arsenical poisons.

Caution — Only the dilute emulsion, 1 part emulsion to 15 or
20 of water, should be used when the trees are in leaf, and in all
cases it should be kept thoroughly stirred ; otherwise the foliage
or even the twigs will be injured.

12 Paris Green.

In combination with Bordeaux mixture, Paris Green may
be used at the rate of one pound to 175 to 200 gallons.

When Bordeaux mixture is unnecessary, the Paris Green
may be used at the same rate, but two or three pounds of freshly
slaked lime must be added to prevent burning of foliage. Keep
the mixture well stirred so that the poison will be distributed
evenly.

In cases where successive sprayings are necessary it is im-
portant to consider the accumulation of the poison and use a
slightly weaker mixture, unless sufficient rain has fallen to wash
off the poison thoroughly.

13 Arsenate of Lead.

Arsenate of soda, 4 ounces.

Acetate of lead, 11 ounces.

Water, 16 gallons.

Dissolve each separately in two quarts of warm water ; mix
and add water to make sixteen gallons. Arsenate of lead can
be purchased from Swift Bros. Insecticide Co., Boston, Mass.,
or under the name of Disparene from Bowker Insecticide Co.,
Cincinnati, Ohio. It should be used at the rate of three pounds
to fifty gallons of water. It is perhaps the best of the arsenical
poisons in adhering qualities. This material may be used alone
or in Bordeaux mixture.

234 THE TREE DOCTOR

14 London Purple.

If desirable, London purple may be substituted for Paris
green, but it has the disadvantage of being somewhat variable
in composition and containing more soluble acid. For the latter
reason use it somewhat weaker, or else with an abundance of
lime, so as to prevent burrn'ng of foliage, or in Bordeaux mix-
ture. It has the advantage of not settling as readily as Paris
green.

15 White Hellebore.

Hellebore is often employed in cases where arsenical poisons
would be objectionable. Use one ounce to three gallons of
water.

16 Pyrethrum.

Pyrethrum is usually applied as a powder, with a bellows,
but may be used as a spray at the rate of one ounce to two gal-
lons of water.

17 Whale Oil Soap Solution.

Use from one to two pounds of the soap to one gallon of
water. Be sure that the soap is thoroughly dissolved, and then
apply in the form of spray.

18 Arsenite of Soda.

Dissolve two pounds of commercial white arsenic and four
pounds of carbonate of soda (washing soda) in two gallons of
water and use one and one-half pint to a barrel of Bordeaux mix-
ture (50 gallons).

The easiest way to make the solution is to put both the
white arsenic and carbonate of soda in a gallon of boiling water
and keep boiling about fifteen minutes, or until a clear liquid is
formed, and then dilute to two gallons.

Caution — This cannot be used alone safely, but must be ap-
plied in Bordeaux mixture.

THE TREE DOCTOR 235

19 Crude Petroleum.

Caution — Use a fine nozzle and exercise great care to avoid
overspraying. It requires a careful workman to spray peach
trees with crude petroleum, as too much of the material, es-
pecially on the bodies of the trees, is likely to do harm. Lime-
sulfur-salt is quite as efficacious and safer to use than crude pe-
troleum.

20 Lime, Sulfur and Salt.

Stone lime, 15 to 30 Ibs.

(Or dry air slaked lime or hydrate of lime one-fourth more).
Flowers of sulfur, 15 Ibs.
Salt, 15 Ibs.
Water, 50 gallons.

Slake the lime in a small quantity of hot water, gradually
adding and thoroughly stirring in the sulfur. Dilute mixture
with twelve gallons of water and boil in an iron kettle or cook
by steam in a covered tank or barrel for one and one-half hour.
Then add salt, continuing the boiling for one-half hour more.
Fill vessel up with water to the required fifty gallons. Strain
the wash through a fine mesh strainer and apply hot. In using
an iron kettle keep the mixture vigorously boiling and thor-
oughly stirred to prevent caking and burning of materials.
Wash cooked by steam is more easily prepared and better made.
Apply the wash just as the buds begin to swell in the spring.
Cover all parts of the tree with a heavy coat of the wash. The
wash seems best adapted to orchardists who have not yet learned
to use petroleum with safety or are afraid that their trees are be-
ginning to show injury from the oil or will not stand many more
applications of it. It is especially recommended for the treat-
ment of peach trees for San Jose Scale.

It is believed that the substitution for the salt of one and one-
fourth pound of blue vitriol dissolved in hot water results in a
quicker acting wash. This formula is known as the Oregon
Wash.

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REMARKS AND

CAUTIONS

These follow Bordeaux
sctib; danger on fair sklui
apples.

12, 13, 14 or 18 In Bordei

argenate of lead alone.

Crude petroleum does not
lure apple trees, but

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dust ] to 10 of fl<

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are ruined.

eep leaves well i
plant bed.

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bly necessary to
crop Is gathered.

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