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Trees possess majestic beauty.
They symbolize strength and endurance. Our reverence and affection for trees
predates written history. But while our appreciation for trees is ageless, not
so the knowledge required for their proper care.
By the late 1800s, plant care had become an established and rapidly growing
profession. During that same era, expanding industrialization and urbanization
were adding new stresses to trees, and the detrimental effects were becoming
apparent.
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Unfortunately, scientific understanding of plant dysfunction and reliable
information about plant care were scarce.
The turn of the century saw red flags being raised by many of the more
aggressive plant care people. Some began their own research efforts and some
lectured to local audiences. But each of them realized it simply wasn’t enough.
In 1901, John Davey, founder of the Davey Tree Expert Company, wrote The Tree
Doctor. In the book’s introduction, Mr. Davey observed:
The time has come when tree planting and tree culture must be studied in
connection with the physiology of plant life. If this is not done, a calamity
will befall the inhabitants of these fruitful regions to an extent that no
human mind can conceive.
Other plant care practitioners across North America and Europe were expressing
similar sentiments.
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The Tree Surgeon's Clinic
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It was not until 1924, however, that members of the Connecticut Tree Protective
Association convened a meeting that would plant the seed of the organization
that would ultimately revolutionize the tree care industry. It was this
gathering that was to become the first of seventy-five annual conferences of
the organization that has evolved into today’s International Society of
Arboriculture (ISA). Indeed the history of modern arboriculture is largely the
story of its development in the twentieth century. And while such a history is
not exclusively that of ISA and it’s predecessor organizations, there is little
of significance in arboriculture that is not reflected in its publications
since its inception in 1924.