HOLLOW TRUNKS 13 



be expended, several important bearings must 

 be considered before works of repair are taken 

 in hand. 



Historic and valuable trees, those occupying 

 prominent positions on a lawn or in a park, 

 town trees where vegetation is scarce, and such 

 as are not too old and fragile may be dealt with 

 within certain bounds ; but to doctor all diseased 

 and hollow trees on the most approved principle 

 in such places as Epping Forest or Burnham 

 Beeches would be highly imprudent, whether 

 from the little benefit which in many instances 

 would accrue by so doing, or the great expense 

 involved in such an operation. 



At the outset it is well to remember that 

 filling a hollow trunk and bracing a tree are 

 quite different operations, and carried out 

 with totally different ends in view. Filling a 

 hollow stem or pocket with concrete prevents 

 the spread of disease and decay, while bracing 

 is carried out with the sole object in view of 

 preventing large and unwieldy branches from 

 falling and wrecking the tree. Also a tree 

 may, and often does, require bracing and not 

 filling, so that the one operation must on no 



