SUPPORTING HEAVY BRANCHES 35 



other contrivance for supporting heavy and 

 diseased branches. 



In the accompanying illustrations, the ap- 

 pearance of the " Wilberforce " oak previous 

 to girdling and other attentions is shown, and 

 also after repairs had been carried out. In 

 this case the hollow stem was not filled with 

 concrete, the aperture being considered too 

 large for such a course of treatment. Strong 

 braces were placed inside the hollow trunk, 

 and after a thorough cleaning and disinfecting 

 of the interior the apertures were neatly 

 covered with sheet lead. 



Large, heavy, and unwieldy branches of the 

 oak, elm, and other trees are frequently torn 

 completely off at the main stem during stormy 

 weather, and the same occurs with forked trees 

 by the tearing apart of a portion of the bi- 

 furcated trunk. Huge wounds that are 

 difficult to treat in a satisfactory manner are 

 sometimes caused by the riving apart of the 

 heavy limbs of a forked tree, and where this 

 is the case it may be better to cut down the 

 tree altogether than to patch up the damaged 

 stem. Where, however, treatment of the 



