The daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1904-1905, 1904-02-22
THE ABUSE OF
TREE PRUNING
FREDERICK LAW OLMSTEAD,
JR., WRITES OF THE DE-
PLoRABLE PRACTICE.
OF TOPPING TREES
And Other Matters in Connection
With Work of Civic I'm
provement.

trees by electric light, trolley, tele-
phone and telegraph wires is one Of
the deplorable results of "modern
improvements, and this is especial
" evident in the barbarous practice
of what is termed "topping'' The
following letter from Mr. Frederick
Law Olmstead, Jr., son of the ia
nous Frederick Law Olmstead, re-
Gently deceased, whose most monu-
mental works are Central Park in
New York and the great park system
of Boston, the most magnificent pro
jected system of the sort in the
world, will be of interest to all tree
lovers especially those who deplore
the ignorant {" trimming" of trees, in
addition to other agencies of destruc-
ton. Mr. Olmstead is one of the
prominent members of the American
Park & Outdoor Art Association and
was associated with his father in
many of the latter's most notable en-
terprises.
This letter was addressed by Mr..
Olmstead to a member of the Ameri-
can Park and Outdoor Art Associa-
ton resident in this city, in response
to some inquiries from her and was,
at the time of its receipt, about two
years ago, published in another of
the city's papers, and its republica-
ton at this time in view of the in
terest now taken by many other peo-
pie in the preservation Of Rich
mond s beautiful features, viii con-
tribute to the general desire for in
formation.
Ny Dear Miss White:-
I regret to say ! cannot refer you
to any publication discussing in a
comprehensive way the use and abuse
Of tree pruning, nor can / take time
to write out such statement as /
should like to give you in regard to
the special practice of Cropping.
Any pruning, or cutting off of the
branches of tree or shrub, is done
for one or more of the following rea-
sons: /. To remove useless or in
furious parts, such as dead, rotting or
injured branches. 2. To stimulate
the growth of the remaining parts. 3.
To control the size and shape of the
plant.
Sometimes indeed it is done with |
out any clear purpose IN view because
the pruner has nothing else to occupy
his time, or out of blind and unin- |
telligent aping of what has been done |
elsewhere. 1t is needless to say that |
unless there is a perfectly definite
to be served by pruning it I
s at the least foolish and may be
destructive.
In regard to the method of pruning
md its applicability, especially when
directed toward the first two pur-
poses above mentioned, a very clear
1rief statement will be found in Des
cars pamphlet on "Tree Pruning"
COPY of which I will have sent to
vou, and a fuller discussion will be
'ound in L. II. Bailey's pruning
Book" 1t is very rarely indeed that
he "topping' Of tree by the reno
zal of the main stem and all the
branches large and small down TO
/ nearly uniform level, is called for
.ither in order to remove unhealthy
PARTS or in order to stimulate growth I,
n the rest of the tree. and In any
uch ease the effect upon the shape
# the tree is so marked that the lat
err also must be taken into consider
Ition.
The pruning and clipping of trees
nd shrubs In order to control their
hape and size, is not infrequentIy
necessary in order to produce certain
esults, but one ought to be very
ertain that those are the results suit
BILE to the case in hand before be-
inning to prune. As regards street
rees, people very often plant in com
,aratively small streets trees of a
ort that will, if left to themselves
row to such a size and shane as TO
rowd and darLen the houses and ac- II
ually cumber the street, while at the 5
anne time they are themselves crowd !
d out of their normal DEVELOPMENT II
nd become misshapen and ultimate
V diseased. The wise plan, is of
curse to choose in the beginning the