Evening star., 1937-04-24
TREES NEEDFOOD
IN HOME SETTING
Natures Balance Upset by
Buildings That Curb
Root Spread.

Many home owners never consider
the fact that the shade and orna-
mental trees of which they are so
proud are in danger of going hungry,
says Paul Davey, tree expert. They
seem so sturdy and independent that
the owner Is likely to feel they can
take care of themselves, and that
artificial feeding is just some experts
fad, Davey continued.
But stop and think. Nature in
tended trees to grow out in the open,
where there is no impeachment to
their root spread, where there is only
natural competition for water and
food, and where each years leaves
lie on the ground to decompose and
return food elements to the soil,
conserving moisture in the meantime.
When you put a tree into home
setting, either city or suburban, you
just reverse the natural conditions
You want beautiful lawn and flow
ers and shrubbery, and they must
live on the same food and water
which the tree needs. The conduits
for your services and the foundations
of your buildings prevent the roots
from seeking new food supplies. You
rake up the leaves and burn the
food elements nature intended to be
returned to the ground.
"A tree has to stand always in the
same place. 1t cannot go foraging
for food, except as far as its roots
can reach. You cannot move it
every year or two to richer ground.
For perhaps hundreds of years, day
and night, it draws on the same
restricted circle of soil for its sus-
tenance. II nature cannot renew the
food supply you must, or the tree
will starve as surely as a man would.
"A tree takes certain inorganic
chemical elements from the soil In
solution. Drawn up to the leaves,
these combine with the carbon from
the air to make the refined food ma
terials from which all tree growth
comes, the excess water being given
OH IN evaporation. Without water
to carry the food elements or food
to be carried the tree will die.
Evidence of lack of nutrition is
found in retarded growth and sparse
or poorly colored foliage. If these
conditions exist without positive evi-
Gence Of insect or fungous attack, a
need for food is indicated, because
well-nourished tree not suffering
from insects or fungus will have
plenty OF richly colored foliage.
There are II or more chemical
elements in the soil which con-
tribute to plant growth, although 8
or the II are almost invariably
found in soil where there is any
plant life. The others, nitrogen,
phosphorus and potassium, are the
ones easily exhausted, and from the
tree standpoint nitrogen is the really
important one of those three. A
commercial fertilizer which would
grow a fine crop of potatoes might
do shade tree little or no good. Po-
satoes often require more potassium
than the soil supplies, while trees
need less and are usually able to
obtain enough without difficulty
OF course, soil analysis or expert
edvice is always valuable, but where
tnat Is not readily obtainable a safe
rule to follow is that a tree fertilizer
should contain at least two and pref
erably three times as much nitrogen
as phosphoric acid or potash. If
you buy q commercial fertilizer be
sure it Is for trees and not for other
plant life.
In most cases feeding by the
perforation method is best. That
raeans punching holes with a pointed
bar or soil auger about a foot apart
and to the depth of the roots all
over the root area, putting fertilizer
at the bottom of each hole and filling
with soil If the ground has become
packed it can be cultivated with
profit, using some fertilizer there, too.
Feeding is not cure for insects or
disease, but Well-nourished tree is
less susceptible to many insects and
some diseases than an undernourished
tree"