The Democratic advocate., 1908-08-07
THE VALUE OF trees
NOT ONLY AN ORNAMENT, BUT add
MUCH TO COMFORT

Have Most Beneficial Effect Upon tht
Health OF e Community.
The village of Evanston, ILL.,, was
built up in few years on the site o1
number of dairy farms lying be-
| tween Walnut Hills and Norwood
There were no natural trees on these
farms, and the result was the new
village was without shade. All the
streets in the village were paved with
brick, and the reflection of the hot sun
on a summer day made the need OF
shade trees all the more marked.
Three years ago the Welfare associ-
alton of Evanston appointed commit
tee on shade trees, and this commit
tee called upon every lot owner in the
village and urged the planting OF trees
twenty-five feet apart along the curb
line. This request was heartily re-
sponded to, says the Cincinnati Com
mercial Tribune, and resulted in the
planting of 800 hard naples, each
about twelve feet high.
The work was done by an expert
who planted the trees scientifically
and mulched them carefully. Each
tree was then provided with wire
tree box, so as to be carefully pro-
tected. The committee is still in eX-
istence and each year it has planted
additional trees where none had been
planted before or where trees nave
died. There are now over l,2OO OF
these trees in the village, and those
which were planted three years ago
have grown enough to give consider
able shade and to lend beauty and
charm to the scene.
The committee had some opposition
to overcome. Occasionally property
owner feared that the leaves of the
trees would clog the cutters and down
spouts; others said the roots would
rip UP the sidewalks, while still others
said the time would come in fifty years
or more when the trees would be SO
dense, as to shut ont the light. The
committee, therefore, had to argue the
points in favor of trees, the beauty OF
the budding foliage in the spring, the
glory of the summer and the splendor
of the colors in the fall.
They presented the fact that the tree
is a purifier of the atmosphere. The
carbonic acid gas which is exhaled
from the lungs of human beings and
which is poison to animal life is aD-
sorbed by the leaves of trees and is
the food of plant life. The vegeta-
ton keeps the atmosphere balanced
and contributes to the health OF man
kind.
Every one has experienced the de-
lights of rest under the shade OF
tree on a hot summer day. Not only
does the tree contribute to comfort
by mitigating the rays OF the sun, but
the trees themselves cool the atmoS-
phere and tend to maintain a fixed,
eauable temperature. This is so well
understood that the New York County
Medical society some years ago passed
a resolution in which it found that
one of the best means OF diminishing
the death rate among children in our
cities is the cultivation of an adequate
number of trees in the streets.
Any one can tell the difference be-
tween the air of forest with its brac-
ing ozone and the stuffy hot air OF a
treeless city street. The air in the
woods contains less bacteria and dust
particles and other air impurities
than does the atmosphere removed
from the vicinity of trees. Trees in
vite outdoor life.
For instance, in Evanston before the
advent of shade trees there were hours
on a hot summers day when the chill
dren were driven from the sidewalks
and the lawns by the blistering rays
of the sun and sought refugs indoors.
Now they gather under the shade of
the little trees, and year by year
their opportunities in this connection
will be broadened.
The foregoing advantages of trees
apply strictly to cities where it has
been more or less difficult to persuade
property owners to plant. So much
has been said about the devastation of
the forests throughout the country
so much has been argued with refer
ence to floods, drought, winds, the
washing away of soil and the like,
that the nation at large has become
aroused to the needs of the preserva-
ton of our forests, and going hand in
hand with that agitation comes the
realization of the same need in cities
and villages.
In planting a tree the hole should
be large enough to spread out all the
roots 1t is a mistake to cut up the
roots, as is sometimes done. The soil
should be we'll rammed about the tree,
ana CnoQ the trees SHOULD De mulCueu
with black soil or with well rotted ma
nure. Subsequent to planting the tree
needs little attention save that it
should be occasionally watered dur
ing very dry spell.
A shade tree has a commercial
value Instances are not wanting
where two lots side by side of the
same size and character are offered
for sale. One has shade trees and the
other has none. The one with the
trees sells for more money. There
is an instance in tbs Cincinnati courts
where as much as $500 was recovered
as damages for the wrongful destruc-
ton of sycamore tree. There was a
verdict of $40O for an elm tree in Wal
nut Hills and one of $500 for two sill
yer poplars in Cumminsville.
Opposition in Evanston to the plant
ing of trees disappeared. Within
year or two there will not be a
single lot of ground in that suburb
without it's shade trees.
J. N. Ramsey, who was appointed
chairman of the original committee
in charge or tree planting in Evans
ton, is still acting in that capacity
1t is no unusual thing to see Mr.
Ramsey wandering through the village
examining the bark and foliage OF
trees and notifying owners of any at
tention which the trees require in or