The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1907-05-03


THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN.
EDITOR TINES Will you kindly al
low me to suggest few things to read
ers of The TINES with regard to your
street trees as they occurred to me in
my very pleasant visit to your city 1t
is needless for me 10 say that your
street trees and the many beautiful,
stately maple, elm and oak in the yards
of your town are infinitely the most
striking of all identifying elements in
your city. Your city is well laid out,
and you have many handsome build
ings, butin the end, the eye instructive
ly turns to and rests on your beautiful
trees 1t is the same old story, not
the brown stone front, but the shade
trees are the lasting" attraction.
Owosso was fortunate; she had a
"crank" early enough in her history to
look out for the beauty and comfort,
not for himself, but of future genera
tions.
But all the more, it seems to me, your
city should be jealous of this beauty,
and preserve it and guard against the
vandalism of the blind" Owosso is
not alone in having this vandalism. 1t
is universal as man himself and appears
characteristic not much disturbed by
time. They had it in Egypt and other
places before the very word vandal was
! known.
During my short stay l was struck
with considerable of this vandalism in
the form of tree trimming. And evil
IDENTIFY that same practical man" who
is evere bristling with vague theories,
and who, haunted Ann Arbor, Lansing
aud other towns must have developed
disciples in Owosso, for his theory that
trees need topping in order that they
may be able to pump up the water to
| the tops and not die in the tips. Good
nature had raised stately elms and ma
Piles for untold ages all about the pres
BENT site of Owosso without this new
theory of the practical trimmer, and it
may be fair to assume that she can do
this same work for while longer.
! Pardon me for suggesting a few
things categorically which may be Of
some help in this matter of shade trees:
1. Plant good trees and plant them
| right. Do not merely plant sticks with
the merest excuse for roots and no tops
at all. This is usually the first source
of trouble, the stick sprouts at the top
and the limbs take unnatural positions.
Plant lots of trees and plant variety.
Keep on planting and have young and
old all over your town. The young
tree is matter of beauty as well as the
old.
, 2. Give your trees room to spread.
Do not hesitate to cut them down when
they are really in the way. Some beau
tiful naples in Owosso are suffering for
want of space. Every tree has a natur'
al form, it has character and beauty OF
its own. The maple differs from the
elm and each has its peculiar charm be
cause of this very difference. Then dc
not crowd the trees and rob them OF
the chance to develop as nature meant
they should. Think twice, and think
right, and then chop"
3. In trimming: Trim early After
two limbs grow up parallel and all toe
close together, cut one off before they
are large. This is especially a trouble
of the maple. Trim early; do not wait
till the lower limbs, often only five ol
six feet from ground, grow to large size
and the cut leaves scar eight inches
through. This applies to shade trees
on the street. Those in your private
grounds leave alone and let nature de
eide. Trim sparingly later; cut out
the dead, or truly undesirable limbs,
but no more. Never try to trim ma
pie into the shape of an elm, or an oal
into some nice (?) shape suggested by
a punch bowl. Let nature decide the
shape and give an oak chance to be that
sturdy oak for which the very poet
praised it long ago.
Trim close. Do not cut off limt
five feet from it base and thus Great,
de ad limbs which decay and carry de
cay into the stem. Trim close; cut frs
on under side, then on top. Trim th
wound smooth and then paint. But d,