248 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



a line of fence falls to be repaired or re-erected the temptation 

 to utilise trees as straining posts is very great, especially so 

 when the work is being done by piecework or contract. Where 

 a tree is found to answer the purpose, it naturally does away 

 with the necessity of digging a hole 4 feet deep and fixing 

 in a straining post. From the contractor's or workman's point 

 of view there is much to be said for this, as they are able 

 to erect or repair so many more yards of fence per day, with 

 a corresponding increase in the day's earnings, as well as being 

 provided with a first-class straining post which will stand any 

 amount of pull, without the necessity of staying it up. In 

 this way it may be that six rows of wire are hammered to the 

 tree by a dozen or more staples. 



In the course of time wire and staples are overgrown by 

 the new year-rings and become absorbed, as it were, by the 

 tree, and when, after many years, it finally arrives at the saw- 

 mill, there is no outward indication that it contains anything of 

 that nature. 



Gates are often hung on trees where convenient, the hooks 

 of I in. iron being driven into the tree 9 inches or so, and when 

 the tree is felled or blown, the hooks are broken accidentally or 

 otherwise, and no notice given at the sawmill as to what has 

 been done. 



In colliery districts i^ in. steel winding ropes can be seen 

 fastened to a line of trees to form a fence. 



Only a few weeks ago a beech log was cut up and 15 inches 

 of steel cable was disclosed embedded well into the timber. 

 By a stroke of good luck it was noticed before the tree passed 

 to the saw bench. It does not require much imagination to 

 guess what is likely to happen when a circular saw comes up 

 against such obstructions as pieces of hard steel. The saw 

 breaks, and pieces of jagged steel fly around from the saw, 

 spinning at the rate of anything from 800 to 1000 revolutions 

 per minute, and the result is usually the infliction of a dangerous 

 if not a fatal wound. 



In any case it means a damaged saw which will take a 

 man anything from two to four hours to strip, re-set, and 

 sharpen up again, as well as dislocating the work generally. 



Superstitious people who believe that finding a horse-shoe 

 means good luck will hang it up on the nearest tree rather 

 than throw it away. Horse-shoes have been found in trees. 



