How Old is He?

Yesterday, Saturday October 25, was my mom's birthday; and as Mrs. Farias and all of my past English teachers have taught me to relate homework to my everyday life. As we were celebrating her outside the house with all the family I was watching the tree from the table I was sitting, and I wondered how old he is. Today in the morning I asked my dad and he said he might be at least 63 years old or younger, he used the date which the house was built. Even though I think that the tree might be younger because the tree couldn't be planted right after the house was built.

Increment Borer
www.forestry-suppliers.com

I know that to know the age of a tree you have to cut the tree down because the ages is shown by the rings inside the trunk; so I searched "How to know the age of the tree" and that was exactly what I thought and the other thing was to use a increment borer (which I don't have and the cheapest one is $40.00). An increment border consists of a long, hollow drill bit with a hole at the end, a cross handle that you have to turn with two hands and an extractor.
"Trees have different growth rates, depending on their species ." says About Education, so in order to find out the age of the tree using the formula* I have to find out the name or specie of the tree.
About Education gives a formula which can tell the age of the tree without harming or cutting down the tree. Below is the formula:

1. Diameter = Circumference divided by 3014 (pi)
2. Diameter X Growth Factor = Approximate Tree Age

I didn't measure the tree for the calculations (I was too busy cleaning and other things related to the party from yesterday and also because I don't know the Growth Factor ) but I will do it later on my next post. 
Also I found this other page that gives that same formula and also the growth factor by the name of the tree.  This formula was published by the International  Society of Arboriculture. It says that trees that grow in urban areas are more stressed and grow slower and weaker than trees than grow in rural areas. 

Work Cited

"How Old is That Tree?" Missouri Department of Conservation. International Society of                      Arboriculture. 2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2014

"Estimating s Tree's Age." About Education. N.p., 2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.