64 TREE WOUNDS AND DISEASES 



extended not only to the dead but living wood 

 as well. The goat moth (Cossus ligmperda] 

 was likewise abundant, but its depredations 

 were mainly confined to the old elm trees, 

 several of which were literally riddled by the 

 tunnels of this formidable insect, and in some 

 instances the damaged trees snapped across 

 during stormy weather. In removing the 

 rotten wood from these trees, particular care 

 was taken that all dead and dying branches 

 were cut well back to, or rather beyond, the 

 living wood, this being a most important point 

 where the production of young shoots is de- 

 sirable. At the point where each branch was 

 cut off, the wound was made smooth with a 

 pruning knife, and painted with tar to prevent 

 ingress of damp and aid in rapid healing. 

 During the following spring, the trees so 

 operated upon sent out an abundance of young 

 shoots which quickly obliterated all trace of 

 pruning, and in a few years the well-rounded 

 heads of healthy foliage showed how the 

 trees responded to the removal of dead and 

 dying wood. 



In the case of the elms in Kensington 



