Tree Aesthetic Surgery, ca. 1890

Founded in 1880 in Kent, Ohio, by John Davey, Davey Tree Care Co. was a company that offered to the wealthy landowners in the area to look after their rare tree specimens. These photographs were taken in 1890 to show the techniques used to model the shape of a tree by splitting it and forcing each branch into a predefined position.

(via La boite verte)