The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-11-24
THE CARE OF TREES
Entornologist Cornell Writes About the Damages to Trees and Value of Pre- ventiOn.
Editor of The Norwalk Hour:

Editor of The Norwalk Hour:
 Dear Sir:-Tree Warden Meth, of Ridgefeld, sounds a warning note in an article on the trees and their care. 2The borers that affect the trees are very destructive pest. Apple, peach. cherry and maple trees are the ones mostly damaged by this insect. The egg is laid by a small beetle and as soon as the larvae is matched it be- 7 gins to bore into the tree, where it
 works until it's life cycle is complet- two years; during this period they bore in all directions, some times completely girding the tree thus shut ting off the. flow of sap and killing it.
 The painting of trees with lead and
 oil is an old idea and was first pro-
 mulgated by a professor of the Vir- ginia experiment station about twelve
 years ago. It was later tried out by a MT. Bowen. a correspondent of the
 Rural New Yorker, who in the issue
 of that paper of October 15, 1910, page 956, says that he painted 130 fine four teen year old trees with lead and oil
 and they all died within year, ex-
 cept six. In painting trees with lead
 and oil, it must be remembered that
 they do part of their breathing
 through openings in the bark called
 lenticels and the closing up of those
 
 Cases have been cited that in old Gre
 clan, Roman, Oriental cerenlonials,
 boys that were painted to resemble
 golden statues died from the effect
 of the paint; just so will it affect trees
 that are painted. I have treated hun
 dreds of trees for the borers and have been just as successful in that as
 have been in the other lines of work
 and I did not resort to painting but
 did it more quickly and surely.
 The beautiful elm trees that adorn
 the estates and roadsides in this town
 are a splendid asset, and should not
 be allowed to decay, as many are apt
 to, if not cared for in the near future.
 These trees should be sprayed twice
 during the season, to protect them
 from the ravageS of the elm leaf bee
 tie. which is present every year. The first spraying is done to kill off the adult beetle and prevent the egg lay ing; this spraying will also kill the canker worm. The second spraying is done to kill the larvae and the sec- ond brood. These two sprayings will keep the trees in good condition and the foliage will remain green through the season and stay on the tree long, CT. All dead branches should be cut away and the cut sealed by doing this the trees become re-invigorated through not losing a large part of the natural elements that go to make up the tree, that are absorbed by the dead wood Or branches and become lost by being dried out by the wind and sun. When those dead branches are cut off and made water tight, the cav ities cleaned out, filled and sealed, the sap has no way of escape into the atmosphere except by the natural channels; thus 1t is made to perform it's regular functions and instead of it's
 being wasted it forms new twigs, shoots and foliage, which in turn l through it's deposit of carbon, adds | more wood growth to support the in- creased foliage. It it not alone the in- sects that we have to fight, it is the many fungus diseases that also attack
 the trees. which, together with the | lack of proper fertilization from all 1 trees, need, Especially those upon | lawns), that causes them to droop and l decay. Every one knows or" under ! stands that to produce a good crop 1 of corn or potatoes it is necessary to | feed the soil with the proper amount of fertilizer, but who ever thinks of l fertilizing the trees upon the beauti- l full lawns? Some one will answer and 1 say that their lawns are covered with | fertilizer every springi Yes they are so treated, with just enough to nour- i ish the grass roots, but none of it | ever gets down to the rootlets of the trees, many feet below the surface, | which are the feeders of, and supply 1 the tree with the proper and sufficient | quantity of nourishment The trees on | most of the lawns are starved near to 1 death, and this is how, when in sum- | mer the lawns are moved each week, ). the grass is gathered up and carted away. In the autumn when the leaves | fall, they are carted away to the com- post heap or are burned and by so i doing the trees are robbed of their 1 natural food.
 Compasc the trees on lawns with
 those IT ih3 tcFcEes. vFare the leaves 1 are not l1-..ovol the leaves form a mulch and a good share of the nitro- l gen gathered from the atmosphere is l deposited around the base, reaches the