PRACTICAL TREE SURGERY 



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The most economical and reliable 

 remedy for a decayed area consists in 

 attending to an injury as soon as it is 

 made, perhaps 20 or 30 years before it 

 becomes a menace to the tree. This 

 fact should ne\er be forgotten by tree 

 owners or persons who are charged 

 with the care of trees. If put into prac- 

 tice, it will insure a profit of many hun- 

 dred per cent on the original outlay. 



In its simplest type, tree surgery, as 

 it is popularly understood at the pres- 

 ent time, consists in removing dead or 

 decayed limbs or stubs from a tree and 

 treating the scar with an antiseptic and 

 waterproof covering to prevent decay 

 while healing. Another type consists 

 in cutting out the decayed and diseased 

 matter in trees and filling the cavities 

 with cement or other material to facili- 

 tate the normal healing-over process. 

 This is often referred to as "tree den- 

 tistr>%" a term which very aptly indi- 

 cates the character of the work. Filled 

 cavities do not increase the strength of 

 the trunk or limb to the extent that is 

 generally supposed. 



The work on dead or diseased 

 branches can be regarded as compris- 

 ing but two essential operations : ( 1 ) 

 Removing the branches in a manner 

 that will prevent injury to the sur- 

 rounding bark and cambium, which is 

 the thin and usually watery layer of 

 young tissue located between the bark 

 and wood of all healthy parts of a tree, 

 and (2) sterilizing and waterproofing 

 the scars. 



For the work of removing branches, 

 the most essential implements are a 

 good-sized saw with teeth so set as to 

 make a wide cut, a gouge, a chisel, a 

 mallet, and a strong knife. For cutting 

 limljs near the ground these are the 

 only necessary implements. For limbs 

 situated elsewhere a ladder may be 

 needed ; also, at times, a rope. 



A large limb should never be re- 

 moved by sawing through from the up- 

 per side, as this usually strips the bark 

 and wood below the scar (Plate No. 2, 

 figure 1). The proper way is to make 

 the first saw cut on the under side, from 

 six inches to a foot beyond the poiiu 

 where the final cut is to be made ( Plate 

 No. 2, figure 2). It should reach from 



one-fourth to one-half through the 

 limb. A good time to stop cutting is 

 when the saw becomes pinched in the 

 cut. The second cut is made on the 

 upper side of the limb, an inch or two 

 beyond the first one. This is continued 

 until the limb falls (Plate 2, figure 5). 

 After the limb has fallen, a third cut 

 is made close to the trunk and in line 

 with its woody surface (Plate No. 2, 

 figure 4). When nearly sawed through, 

 the stub must be supported until com- 

 pletely severed, so as to avoid any pos- 

 sibility of stripping the bark below as 

 it falls (Plate No. 2, figure 1). The 

 first and second cuts to prevent strip- 

 ping may be omitted when small limbs 

 which can be held firmly in place until 

 completely severed are being cut. 



When the scar is not naturally point- 

 ed above and below, it is a good practice 

 on most trees to remove a short trian- 

 gular piece of bark from the upper 

 edge of the scar and another from the 

 lower edge (Plate No. 2, figure 3), so 

 as to anticipate its dying back at these 

 points. This makes the scar pointed 

 at both ends, the most favorable shape 

 for healing. It is important that some 

 good shellac be applied with a suitable 

 brush over the edge of the bark, es- 

 pecially the cambium, immediately after 

 the cut is made. If the scar is a large 

 one, it is a good plan to use the knife 

 for one or two minutes and then shellac 

 the freshly cut surfaces, repeating the 

 operation until all the bark around the 

 scar has been shellacked. The fuU 

 benefit of the shellac will not be 

 achieved if many minutes elapse be- 

 tween the cutting and the shellacking, 

 unless the freshly cut surfaces are visi- 

 bly moist with sap. 



If necessary, the woody surface of 

 the scar may now be smoothed off with 

 a chisel and mallet to conform in gen- 

 eral shape with the tree trunk. It is 

 bad practice to leave a stub projecting 

 from a trunk (Plate No. 2, figure 6). 



DKKSSING THE WOUNDS. 



The final operation is to sterilize and 

 waterproof the sur-face of the exposed 

 wood and bark. For this purpose 

 many preparations have been used. Re- 

 cent extensive tests by specialists in 



