Rodent Injury to Trees. 



453 



oil. Stir while lieating- and do not let it boil. Apply with a brush 

 while warm; it is too hard for use when cold. 



Bridge Grafting. 



For large wounds other treat- 

 ment is necessary. When small 

 trees are badly injured, it is 

 best to replace them with new 

 ones ; but the death of a large 

 tree means a considerable loss. 

 When such trees have been 

 girdled or otherwise badly 

 injured they can be saved by 

 bridge grafting. Plate 2 shows 

 a two-year old graft on a pear 

 tree that had been girdled, and 

 shows what may be done in the 

 way of saving a tree. Plates 2 

 and 3,' and also the following 

 concise description, are taken 

 from Farmers' Bulletin No. 

 710 of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture 

 ("Bridge Grafting of Fruit 

 Trees," by W. F. Fletcher): — 

 " A bridge graft is made 

 by using scions or small limbs 

 to connect the two portions of 

 the bark of a stock which have 

 been separated by an injury; in 

 other words, the injured area is 

 bridged by a scion or scions, 

 the ends of which unite with the 

 uninjured parts above and below 

 the wound in such a manner 

 that a connection between the 

 tissues is established. 



" Bridge grafting may be 

 used successfully on almost any 

 kind of fruit tree that admits 

 of being readily propagated by 

 grafting. In practice there is 

 occasion to resort to it much more frequently with the apple than with 

 any other fruit, but pear trees are often treated, at least in some 

 sections. No reason is apparent why the method should not be 

 successful on plums and cherries. Peaches graft less readily than 

 the other trees mentioned and there may be some question as to the 

 usefulness of the method in the case of this fruit. 



''To be effective, bridge grafting must be done in the spring 

 before growth starts, though sometimes it can be done after growth 

 starts if dormant scions for that purpose can be secured. As rodents 

 sometimes injure trees m late spring, the grafting must be done 

 promptly. 



" In preparing the wound to receive the graft, the injured part 

 should be thoroughly cleansed ; all dead tissue cut away. . . . The 



Plate 2. 



