Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-04-25
DOES THE KAISER
LOVE TREES?
By Walter Prichard Eaton

h"CNO lle many TulSIUb WHICH hTen I
"A true at all none can be further from
the truth than the saying that a mans hands
are subdued 20 the material he works in. by
which take II Is meant that a butcher will
he cruel sort OF customer and maker
OF chocolate creams a sentlmentalist I have
known many butchers (not mere sellers Of
meat, but butchers in the good old sense,
men who bought, killed and dressed the ami
mails they sold). and most OF them were
large. red-faced jovial men, who supported
the local ball team and we're towers OF merry
inspiration at the traders plcncs." on the
other hand, once knew q thug and a ruff
nan who worked In candy factory.
DUT the greatest variance from the truth
ID have found to be in the case of pro-
fessional tree-trimmers. Matters are bad
enough In our town when the chauffeurs Of
the rich summer residents arrive. These
men are loud-mouthed, dishonest, lewd. lazy
and E~Seraly undesirable. But you are not
entirely surprised at that. They are eco
nomic parasites. performing no useful or
necessary function In life; they have too
much idleness; they have too many tempta-
uons TO graft And they deal with mRChin-
cry. But what | can't explain is, why the
tree-trimmers, who come upon us once IN so
often to care for our public shade trees, our
private grounds and orchards are even worse
than the chauffeurs. SO that we even have to
quarantine our young girls, to say nothing
OF locking up all our portable possessions
while they are in town The tree-trimmer is
not parasite. He is hard worker in
dangerous occupation. and what he does ls
OF the utmost benefit TO society. Further
more his work is up among the green
branches Of the most beautiful things God
has caused to grow upon the earth, his OBJ
ject constantly to make them healthier and
more beautiful. Why should the professional
tree-trimmer become thug?
7 CANNOT answer. It may be due to the
i human conditions Of labor in the tree-trim-
ming Industry. Like the members Of the
]. w. w, he is an tinerant laborer, TO a
great extent and perhaps the real trouble
lies with his employer with society, as It
generally does with the I. W. Wa fact the
United States Government Investigations
nave clearly demonstrated I'm not going
to try to answer. in fact. but only 10 point
out that when a man Is trimming his own
trees in his own orchard provided OF
course, that he has learned how 10 do Il
properly. he Is engaged in one Of the most
healthful and one Of the most delightful
occupations known TO man. II your saw is
sharp and you keep It oiled to prevent yexa-
tious binding. and II you have even an ounce
OF imagination to make Of each tree bit
OF an architectural problem you can spend
Two hours In ten minutes up an old apple
tree and resent the call to dinner
There stands the old tree before YOU az
You approach II with ladder and tools 1t
was planted long years ago, perhaps a hun
dred, in our eastern country
In Washington or Oregon an apple tree,
after twenty years, is too tall 70 pick
ana has to be cut down. When II was
planted men knew little about pruning and
less about pests Probably they had no pests
to speak of. But now the twisted old vet
eran shows many a painful scar Of wrong
pruning In Its middle and later years scale
and disease have weakened Il: It is full of
holes and dead wood. Yet It In alive sturdily
alive, and sprouting suckers with magnificent
vitality.
What shall you do to It? Shall you head
ruthlessly down TO make frult-pickng
easier or shall you treat II rather as a
shade tree, an ornament--and ornamental it
certainly Is with its leaning trunk and
gnarled, spreading branches and tall, arched
crown After all you decide why not let Il
be tree, tall as IT. likes. SO you walk all
around It carefully. studying its shape and
making UP your mind what limbs to leave for
the true outline, what suckers promise best
as future bearing wood at what points TO
prune ruthlessly TO admit air and liaht
when these points are settled you climb up
and begin.