Trimmer, Spare That Tree

Tue., May 9, 2000

From The Spokesman-Review, March 21, 1924

To the editor of The Spokesman-Review:

Trimming trees! Yes, trim them when it is necessary, but do not decapitate them. That is willful murder. It destroys forever the symmetrical growth. Nature does the best it can to hid the deformity when the tree puts forth its foliage, but the wounds are visible seven months in the year and for these seven months it is an eye-sore to those with artistic sense.

It may be necessary to cut off a man’s hands or arms leaving unsightly stumps, but to cut off his head - to decapitate him - is going too far, is it not?

It is with a sense of regret that we see the landscape in Spokane an evidence of man’s thoughtlessness or ignorance in thus mutilating the shade trees. When we see trees in in front of school buildings and colleges being “topped” we wonder if in any book upon tree culture they find authority for cutting off the tops. I believe there is no such recommendation. Trim to your heart’s content, but spare the tops of all trees. M.S. Jones Spokane

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News of the day

Headlines from March 21, 1924:

Mystery Veils Woman’s Death: Mrs. Wilkins is Found in Ransacked Home

Link Daugherty with Drink, Lotteries and Fight Films: Senate Probers Tread Way Through Bewildering Maze of Charges

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