HOLLOW TRUNKS 21 



wounds made when pruning, or where ac- 

 cidentally the bark is stripped from the stem 

 of a tree, the place may be covered with graft- 

 ing wax, and the wood underneath will remain 

 sound and healthy. The following is the 

 recipe : Melt in a pot a pound of tallow, 

 double that weight of beeswax, and four pounds 

 of resin, stirring well during the boiling pro- 

 cess. For all practical purposes, however, 

 coal-tar or paint, if thinly applied to diseased 

 or wounded timber, is hard to beat. 



The treatment of hollow stems without 

 filling the cavity is in certain instances quite 

 permissible, and can be carried out at a com- 

 paratively small cost. Broadly speaking, this 

 method consists in cleaning out all decayed and 

 decaying matter, painting the interior with 

 carbolineum or tar, and where possible bracing 

 the trunk from the interior by means of stout 

 cross-bars of wood, and covering surface holes 

 with lead, zinc, or sheet copper. When a 

 tree trunk is hollow from top to bottom this 

 method is to be recommended, and stout struts 

 placed within the cavity at various of the 

 weaker points will go far in preserving many 



