Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

a composition of wood particles, rubber-
like asphalt, asbestos fibres, and so forth,
an antiseptic and preservative filling
which he has protected with many pat-
ents, and which has been given the trade
name of "Flexifill." Tree surgery, as
now practiced, is the treatment of old and
decayed trees by a process of interior
cleansing and bracing with horizontal
metal rods, and the filling in of these
cleansed and braced cavities with a flex-
ible filling, the result being a complete
restoration to health if the work is prop-
erly done. Great improvement has been
made in the treatment of the cavities, the
vital point in tree surgery, for if all dead
wood is not carved away back to the ac-
tive healing tissues, decay will continue
back of the filling, and in time there is a
cavity between wood and filling, through
which a new infection may be started by
water or insects, or both. But if the cav-
ity is properly cleansed of all infected
wood, then well braced and packed with
filling, the bark will gradually roll over
the edges of the filling, and a perfect heal-
ing is effected, with the continued life of
the tree practically assured. The Bart-
lett method of tree surgery is based fun-
damentally upon the accumulated knowledge
of tree specialists, and for a decade
has been thoroughly in the "assay pan" of
actual experience and is kept abreast of
all modern discovery by the continued ad-
dition to their staff of recognized experts
and specialists in tree preservation. This
keeps the "Bartlett Way" on the very
frontier of progress, every member of the
staff a skilled man before admission to
the force. New men and new methods
are all tested at the company's expense,
and not only is every member of the
Bartlett staff well grounded in the theory
of tree surgery but is a successful practitioner.
"Flexifill" is a valuable com-
mercial product, not alone in its appli-
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
38
cation to tree surgery, for its potential
uses are many. It stands in much the
same relation to wood as concrete does to
stone, is freely molded, fire-proof, and
has wide possibilities in the building
trade.
Mr. Bartlett is the owner of a beautiful
thirty acre tract named Brookdale Farm,
which he has devoted to experimental
work in arboriculture. He has several
acres planted in many varieties of nut
trees brought from all over the world,
and is working extensively with seed-
lings. He is endeavoring to acclimate
exotic nuts, especially those from China
and Japan, and to develop new varieties.
Black walnuts are the object of much of
his experimenting, and he is hybridizing
pecans and hickory nuts, with most en-
couraging results.
Mr. Bartlett is also vice-president and
a director of the Oasis Farm & Orchard
Company of Rose well, New Mexico,
which is conducting one of the largest
and finest private irrigation projects in
the Southwest. They have eighteen hun-
dred acres under intensive cultivation,
five hundred acres of it in apple trees,
also raising wheat, other grains, and hogs.
This company shipped seven thousand
hogs to the packers in one year. Mr.
Bartlett is a member of the Phi Sigma
Kappa.
Mr. Bartlett married Myrtle Kezar, of
Massachusetts, and they are the parents
of a son, Robert Addison, born October
ii, 1917.
SPENCE, David,
Chemist, Engineer, Manufacturer.
As vice-president and general superintendent
of the Norwalk Tire and Rubber
Company, Dr. Spence came to Norwalk
with a reputation as a research chemist
and engineer already well established,