Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 August 1875 — The Right Way to Kill Trees. [ARTICLE]

The Right Way to Kill Trees.

'flie most of the nourishment of our trees is derived from the soil by means of the system of roots. There are plants which can ‘exist solely in the air, deriving all their nourishment from the air by means of their leaves. In tropical regions this class of plants is very numerous, very many of the orchis family being of this habit. These plants have no roots proper, but what are regarded as roots are merely means of attachment to the bark of trees and stones and other objects. Still another class of plants are true parasites; these have w-hat answer to roots, which penetrate within the bark of other plants and draw their nourishment from the juices elaborated by the organs of those other plants. But these lire divided into two classes: Those that have green foliage, by means of which the stolen sap is further elaborated and undergoes certain changes, and those whose l foliage is not green and perhaps live wholly oft the sap sucked from the nurse-plant. But in the case of by far the greater part of plants and. nearly all those familiar to us, the roots are necessary to the life of the plant. Destroy these and the plant dies, root and branch. This is the principle on which we proceed when we root up noxious weeds. But in \the case of trees this process of uprooting is impracticable. Can the roots of a tree be killed without being uprooted ? Let us examine the process of the grow’th of plants and the nourishment of the roots. It is a fact that the roots of trees require constant nourishment—they grow as the tree grows. The nourishment and growth of the roots come from the same organs as the growth and nourishment of the stem, viz.: from the leaves. If, then, you prevent the nourishment of the roots you will kill them. It can be demonstrated that the material of the growth of trees comes from the leaves, descending, usually, between the bark and the wood. During the season of greatest growth this descending sap, becoming organized into vegetable tissue, forms that mucilaginous coat by means of which the bark is readily separated from the wood. A portion of this new 7 tissue forms a new layer or growth of wood, of whfoh one is formed each growing season or year. Another portion goes to form a new layer of bark to keep up the proper thickness of that substance.

If a wire be made tight around a limb or the trunk of a tree,\as the tree increases in size it will be. observed that it will bulge out more below thanabove-the wire. If any twig, which has leaves upon it, is cut on iri the growing seasun, just below a leaf, if no sprout is allowed to grow, it will perish down to the next leaf. If a cut be made through the bark into the wood, if it heals up, it will be noticed that the new wood will form above and not below the cut. The circulation upward is in the pores of the wood; this is the crude sap going up toward the leaves; this crude material is elaborated in the leaves and green parts of plants, and then, in a condition to form vegetable tissue, deadends? in the case of trees having bark, between the bark and the wood. To kill the roots of trees this nourishment must not be allowed to reach them. If the bark and a portion of the wood be cut through entirely around the trunk, it will generally kill the trunk of the tree, but may not kill the roots, because these, having a store of nourishment laid up, may throw up shoots, and by these' unfolding leaves the life «f the root is main-

tained. But if it can be so managed that the rising sap shall not be interfered with during one entire season, and the descending sap prevented reaching the roots to nourish them, the tree w. continue to grow a season, making its u.mal demands upon the roots, thereby exhausting them, without their having means of being nourished, and the result will generally be that the whole tree will perish, root and branch, the following year. Care must be taken to allow no suckers to grow from the roots; if any make their appearance they must be destroyed early or the plan will be defeated. The right time to girdle trees to accomplish the desired object of killing them to the roots is in the spring of the year, justbefore the growth commences or soon after. The girdling must be complete so far as the bark is concerned. Indeed it is better to scrape the soft, white filaments of bark off with a knife, so as to lie sure that no means remain for the sap to descend, as will be the case if care be not taken. For it not unusually happens*lhat the bark is not all removed when trees are girdled s It is easy for -tlie thin, mucilaginous coat to escape a carelessness of removal. The coarse, rough bark has no relation to the circulation of the sap of the tree. It is the soft coat next the wood. And it is often the case when a valuable young fruit tree has been barked by a horse, or maliciously by a person, that there remains all that the life of the tree requires in the filamentous, mucilaginous coat, if it is only prevented from drying up from exposure to sun and wind. This may generally be done by wrapping the part with a cloth saturated with grafting wax, if it is attended to in time. A coating of fresh cow-dung applied and wrapped with heavy cloth will do quite w r ell in most cases. In the case of girdling trees for the object referred to, to kill the roots as w-ell as stem, not only must case be taken to remove all of the bark, but at-the same time too broad a band of bark must not be removed or the wood will season and the ascending sap will be stopped, thus killing the tree above, but not the roots. No rule can be given which will meet all cases. In the case of some trees to remove the bark for the space of an inch would be sufficient, but for some trees it would not be sufficient, because the descending sap will in some instances be diverted to the wood and will descend through it. This is the case with the dogwood and the persimmon and others. It will, therefore, always be safe to cut the wood to some extent carefully all around. In the case of the silver poplar, often a troublesome tree on account of suckering, it will be necessary to cut the wood to the depth of half an inch or more. In all cases the band bared of bark must not be sufficient to allow the wood to season. The willow 7 , on account of its soft, porous woou, will not readily season, and if the wood is not cut the bark should be peeled off for a considerable distance.— Cor. Indiana Farmer.