El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-08-09

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something' to a tree. What the some
| thing" is no one seems to know but the
4 man himself. He has two assistants
] One Of them carries a bucket of tar
and several brushes. The other has
a rough box and a paddle for mixing
small quantities OF cement The man
| has been observed working at that
/ tree at intervals for several days. Now
/ he is finishing his work. A number Of
! branches have been cut off Now the
} wounds are being coated well with the
{ tar so that they will not admit mois-
( ture and cause the tree to decay. At
one side Of the trunk is a good-sized
! hole. A squirrel used 10 live IN it and
/ hide nuts there. The man cleans out
\ the nut shells ard with Sham r0C1s
/ cnlsels out all the decayed fibre down
I TO the clean white wood Now ne is
/ gong to fill that hole with cement
\ well, the bark will grow over that fiIi-
! ing so that there will hardly be a scar
I upon the trunk Of the tree to indicate
lnat there once was a great rotten
PLACE that would soon have caused it
Is Tree Surgeon.
/ The man who does this wonderful
/ work is called a tree SURGEON a1d
J sometimes a tree dentist because h
puts IlLlngS IN trees in Just the same
way that dentist puts filling in a
I loCtn- Men. women and children are
I ----~- C7L-G III his WOEh because ne
} saves the trees which sometimes they
nave known and loved for years Thera
! were never so many tree doctors at
VOTE IN TINS country as are engaged
K this summer, because the people in
I every STAGE are becoming more inter-
eSted IN saving their trees
Is New Calling.
| I'll nTee surgery IS one Of the newest
( e9Illngs' and one which is Just begin
Tor acquiring the profession OF tree
surgery are limited as yet to less than
formed special departments for this
work Consequently tree doctors a-s
not plentiful and their remuneration
seems enormous to those who have
never stopped to consider the real
value a fine tree is to a town or com
l5I5 lIIy, ~ Inc mayor OF a western city
/ Is modest estimate of the value Of
one OF the big elm trees belonging to
them If possible" So a tree s1reseo1
was brought from the east He inf
stout IRON bolts through both of the
large branches Of one of the trees INST
above where iC began to divide IN This
way ne prevented it splitting apart as
several similar trees in the same tow,
mad done He cleaned out rotten places
ana Tllled w cavities with cement he
SUI OH Dranches and unwieldy limbs.
for three weeks ne attended to the
trees Of that town. visiting each dafIJ-
as physician does his patients When
to pay.
saving Ancient Trees.
several Of the Is gum trees which
were planted by Alexander Hamilton
IN his garden in New York civ in
recently received treatment bv a re-
doctor These trees are near st T,ukers
rectory. which once was the Hamilton
In Boston, in Providence. and in a
number OF other New England towns
are gre Delqs preserved for future genera
ions IN New orleans, a group OF live
OAKS which belonged to one of the
over to the tree doctors with good re-
suits In Quincy, Illinois, the citizens
are rejoicing over the preservation of
some fine old park trees which last
year seemed doomed 20 extinction
Healing Tree Wounds.
Every rotten spot upon a tree is the
result OF some wound or injury which
may have been received when the tree
II developed rot and decay Just as the
neglected wound of an animal NAV
suppuraIe and produce serious condi-
tlons- Every cut or wound made in a
tree should be promptly protected bv a
coating OF tar or lead paint. applied
ting. so that the surface may be dry
enough to absorb it properly In ex-
cepJional cases, this coating may be
when to do IL later would necessitate
the dangerous reclimbinE Of high
tree Large, wounds should be in
Spected each year and painted or
tarred until they are completely healed
over If cracks OF scars appear upon
6ne surface these should be carefully
Pruning Time Important.
The time of pruning is important. It
should be done when there is the least
flow Of sap and when there is the
aongs IN POSSIBLE osi6 t CROWNS season to
cd OF cutting off branches is also i'm
pOrIant- In removing a large limb. an
undercut should be made first in order
to prevent splitting slivers Of bark and
wood from che trunk In taking off
a large, heavy branch, 1t is better to
cut off the main body first at a dis
lance of several feet from the trunk
after which the stub can be ampuCated
No protruding stumps Of limbs must
De left They give the tree an IN
signify appearance and are rarely II
ever healed over Even after many
years, the exposed wood may admit de-
cay into the trunk Of the tree. The
tree doctor frequently finds his heav-
lest work in curing the decay result
ant rom these protuberances which
need never have begun. If the first
Is Interesting Operation
Filling the cavity of a great tree Is
tree ioefor ana ne nan Dsor1s wbo
like to watch his work. After the cav
ity has been thoroughly cleaned out a
rhln coating OF tar is applied CreO-
sOte was formerly used for this pur-
pose, but has been discontinued be-
cause it has been found to penetrate
through the bark. After the first coat
ing has dried a heavier one is applied
Thls, too, is thoroughly dried before
the filling is applied
The filling is mixed according to the
size OF the cavity For a small cavity
one part Portland cement and two
parts sand are used For the main part
of a large cavity a mixture Of two
parts cement to one part gravel is pre-
ferable. This mixture should be run
into the cavity in a semi-liquid form
and allowed to set for several days
Then the top filling Of cemenC and
sand is applied. This last is dyed
as nearly the color Of the tree as pos
sible.
The skill of the tree doctor has been
better demonstrated in Washington
than in any other city in the country.
A magnificent elm standing directly
in front of the white house, the largest
tree in Washington, and which was
planted BY Thomas Jefferson. was up
rooted BY the storm that swept the
capital city 10 DAYS ago 1t had been
saved 2 decade ago from splitting by
the tree surgeons. and now they will
undertake their most ambitious task
that Of restoring this century-Old
miami to IFS upright estate and saving