TREE SURGERY

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 149, 20 March 1939, Page 8

TREE SURGERY

Expert From San Mateo HOW AMERICANS CARE FOR THEIR TREES “Do you know what they say in regard to real estate in our country,” said Mr. Keith L. Davey, of San Mateo, California, in an interview. “They say that the possession of an oak tree, with a six-inch trunk, adds 1000 dollars to the value of the lot. That does not mean that six oak trees would be worth 6000 dollars, but such is computed to be the value of a single tree on a homo lot.”

Thus Mr. Davey, tree surgeon, spoke of the value of trees in California. Mr. Davey, represents a third generation of tree surgeons. His grandfather, John Davey, who was the pioneer of the art in the United States, went there from England in the last century and began his work in the state of Ohio, where he lived and died. He did .much valuable tree service work round such cities as Akron and Toledo, where the Davey tradition is held in great respect. The business of the Davey Tree Surgery Company, Ltd., of California, now is carried on by Mr. Keith Davey, the first of his family to “go west.” Mr. Davey knows trees ns a doctor knows the human anatomy and, like the medical man, he studies their-ailments, and has his own ways and means of curing them. In New Zealand, when a tree develops a rotten branch, it is often good-bye to the whole tree, but in the United States, where trees are valued, experts are employed t 0 restore that tree —to amputate the dead branch, stop cavities aS a dentist does Hollow teeth, and possibly add another 40 or 50 years of life to a valued tree. Tree service is quite an accepted business in the United States according to the visitor. People take pride in keeping their trees healthy by pruning at the proper time of the year, preventing decay, dealing with blights, preventing destructive root spread, doing cavity work, moving, and straightening trees, and so on. “There are not a great many trees native to California,’ said Mr. Davey. “Most of the trees there are imported. Among them are many eucalyptus and wattle trees from Australia, which do very well there. Still, such trees have their ailments, and part of the reason for my visit to Australia is to study these trees, in their natural condition in the country of their origin. I want to see-in what kind of soil they flourish jbest, the difference between trees grown on the hills and in the valleys, and to ascertain something of the nature of their ailments and how nature overcomes them.” jli-. Davey lias been immensely impressed with New Zealand, though he thinks the weather of Australia is more on a par with that of California. He thinks New Zealand is most picturesque and the trees rather wonderful, particularly the rimu.