The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-21
REMOVING THE DEAD TREES.
PARK AND TREE FORCE HAS A BIG
JOB ON HAND.

Tree Planting Is over and There Are
About 1000 Dead Trees to Be Re-
mOved-WiII Make n Large Lot OF
FirewoOd to BE Given to the Char
liable Northumberland
Lester Sends "a Donation of Grass
SOLICITATIONS Theories 10 Account
for the Heavy Death Rate Among
the Trees.
The park and tree forces are removing
the dead trees from Forsyth Park. There
are some forty or fifty dead trees, chiefly
pines and oaks, TO be removed. There are
now only very few scattered pines left
of the large number which added so much
TO the attractiveness of the park few
years ago. Various suggestions have been
made to account for their decay but no
| satisfactory reason has been advanced as
yet. The decadence of the pines begun
several years ago and so cannot be at
| tributed to the freeze of last spring, which
worked such havoc upon tree growth gem
, orally
The dead trees in the park are being dut
off six to eight feet above the ground,
II DelllS the intention Oh the COMMISSION
to use the old trunks as supports for
clnging vines, which will be planted
around them. A number of oaks and
other trees have been planted along the
Whitaker, Drayton and Hall street walks,
but the park how has a bare appearance
compared with the luxurious tree growth
which characterized it seven or eight years
ago. The work of destruction begun with
the disastrous storm of 1898. and has been
increased with every storm and severe
freeze since.
The Park and Tree Commission will
soon have a lot of excellent firewood to
be given away to the poor of the city
The Ger sus of The trees made by direction
of Chairman Daffin some time ago shows
the remarkable number of 1000 dead trees
of all varieties throughout the city. The
tree planting season being now about
over the efforts of the commission will be
devoted to removing the dead trees. The
wood will be cut into suitable lengths
and turned over to Mr. r. B. Repparci for
distribution among the charitable institu-
tions and the poor of the city generally.
The commission has received from Con-
gresham Lester fifty packages of seed of
a new variety of lawn grass with which
it will experiment this spring.
Chairman Daffin. when asked to account
for the great number of dad trees in the
city, said that some of the damage was
due to the storms of recent years which
had broken IN the trees and weakened
them. He was inclined to the opinion,
however, that the chief damage was due
to the severe freeze of the spring of 1898,
which caught the trees in the sap, when
they We're most liable to be affected
by cold, and injurd them very seriously
The effects of this Freeze seid Chair
man Datfin, ARE TO be seen in the forests
all throughout South Georgia and Flor
ida. The trees were caught at a very
tender stage, causing the bark to break
and become ragged, and exposing the trees
to the attacks of insects, to which they
fell an easy prey in their weakened con-
dtion."
The decadence in tree life in Savannah
may be a more serious matter than has
been imagined. While Savannah is still
the Forest CITY" it is evident that the
tree growth is not as uniform nor as Wig
orous as was the case eight or ten years
ago. The decline has been generally at
| tributed to the storms and more recently
10 the freeze of a year ago. There may
be other causes. 1t has been suggested
that the lowering of the watershed be-
meath the city may have tended to de-
/ crease the vigor of the trees and make
them less able to withstand storms and
cold waves The lowering of the water
| shed is attributed to the effective drain
age OF the city and county, the deepen
ing of the river and by some to the ar
tesian wells. Those who advance the lat
ter theory hold that the pumping of the
artesian water from its subterraneai,
sources has enabled the surface water to
sink lower than formerly, thus placing
it beyond the reach of the roots of the
trees.
Chairman Dafiin thinks that the trees in
the park and throughout the city general
ly perhaps were injured by the mistaken
policy pursued by the city for a number
! of years of thoroughly raking up end
burning or cartng away the fallen leaves
and other waste matter from beneath the
trees, thus depriving them of one of the
chief sources of pant life