Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-08
THE CITYS SHADE TREES
Their Number and the Cost of Their
% Care.
There Are Now Nearly 75,UOO Trees
ALONG the Streets-The Approprfa-
ton Last Year Was SIS,OOO.

nual report today to the Commissioners 1t
bears the approval of Messrs Saul and San
ders Mr.. Smith. the other member Of the
commission. agrees as to :he facts, but not
in the opinions expressed.
The report states that "8eO trees were
piante1 on the streets, consisting Of elms,
oriental planes. hndens Norway. sugar and
silver naples. ginckos and oaks The de-
crease IN the number planted as compared
with that OF the previous year, Is due TO
the large an cunt Of necessary trimming
which was done. and the improving of cir
cies and street parkings. hereinafter men
TONED. In this connection IL may be stated
that In addition to trimming individual
trees and rows Of trees which needed spac-
ial attention, all that section of the city be-
tMssn NORTH Capitol street and Rock creek
ana 3 and NJ streets northwest Was taken
systematically and the trees trimmed In
ooihs ,nls work hundreds of loads of brush
were vt on and carted to the dumps, and
Mheh II mao accumulated TO such an extent
as 10 render the deposit of more impossible
IL was burned. in order to give more room
Inc dumping OF brush close TO houses ,s al
Ways Ways avoided because Of the danger Of it's
wbn s Se' , on hre by thoughtless persons.
stroyed. hence the dumping grounds for
Drush nave narr0wed doun 10 olst stree, he
tween virginia avenue and the reclaimed
A.iir fot.erluS n)ftDyeStfrn section q the
city. and 10Th street near the RaItinora GA
ONO tracks for the eastern section This
Tenoers III necessary to cart the larger mar,
OF the tree trimmings foug distances. which.
eUns,ueriHe me quantity TO be moved. is an
expensive Item alone. The entire annual an
preparation, which, for years has been SIS
Vto would be required. to properly trim trees
ana replace dead and inferior ones TO keen
up the rows already established
Care of Parkings.
q mai RI it,op
vania avenue between "a and sth streets
southeast and New York avenue between
10Th and 18th streets northwest were
graded. soiled; seeded IN grass and a tenn
porary fence Of wire and, stakes was erect
ed for protection. Sheridan Circle at Massa-
chusetts avenue and r streets the two
semi-circles at 10th and L streets north
west and Truxton Circle at intersection Of
Florida avenue and North Capitol street
were prepared and sowa in grass These
parkings and circles presented a very good
appearance until the, very dry weather set
In. except on New York avenue, where the
elm roots are SO close to the top OF the
ground, and which cover the same that
1t Is doubtful IL good turf can ever be
produced there. II II were not for the fact
that the parking Is already considerably
elevated above the level of the street a
few inches Of good soil might be added,
which would remedy the matter, but to
lower the parking would be death to the
Protecting the Trees.
Three hundred and fifty old wooden tree
boxes were removed. The entire stock Of
old box lumber which for the last six or
eight years has supplied material for second
hand tree boxes has been exhausted, and
new lumber must be purchased for the
making Of boxes for future USE One thou
sand wooden tree boxes were made and
used around. newly planted trees. and those
OF few years growth. One thousand five
hundred rods OF woven wire were pur-
only about LOO rods were used. with
which 4.34l trees were protected. The aver
age cost of wiring each tree is about 40
cents. but the work of read1usting wires
which have become tight, and the taking
on OF injured wires. etc, is very expensive
work and requires constant attention
Caterpiliars appeared In small numbers
only, and their removal cost but little. The
pruning of tree roots where they had dis
tUrbed the sidewalks and the relayins of
the bricks, has been carried on. This work
requires thought and care, and is of such a
nature that no fixed rule can be followed in
Its execution. as relief should be given the
sidewalks as far as possible, and at the
same time the trees should not be injured
or rendered liable to destruction. This de-
p wnr rs not sproperiy eauipped for the
proper MANNER.
.as-, AdNuuAker Of Trees,
The report shows tine total number Of
trees on the streets 10 be. s3.s33; number of
trees planted during the year. go; total.
d4.a2s: number OF trees, removed 4sl: total
number of trees now on streets "A, 062: num-
Der Of trees protected by wire previous 10
year just ended e2.12o: humber of trees
wired during the year, 4.341: total &c. 4e3
Appropriation for 1S9F $4,000; expended for
labor, cart hire. etc. sI4.1Gi15: material
wire netting, tree stakes. rorage,, 81. So. II:
totaL SiI&1.26; unexpended balance $314
Estimates for IsY5.
Purchase OF wire netting ard Wiling Of
trees. $500; trimming and care Of trees on
streets and parkings. $4,000: planting of
trees on streets and work at nursery, $1,000:
purchase of humber for boxes s.. 500; maxi
Ing tree boxes, asserting old lumber and re-
pairs to tools. s1,400; purchase of tree
stakes. 5000; improving and fencing the
thirty-six reservations under the control of
the Commissioners $4,000