ORCHARD PLANS 105 



hot wax or paint to protect the injured tissues 

 from the weather during the period of healing. 

 This should not be done immediately, but should 

 be delayed for a week or more until evaporation 

 has dried the tissues sufficiently to allow some 

 absorption of the protective material used. 



In connection with this removal of supple- 

 mentary branches, which is in effect a sort of 

 house-cleaning operation, it will be well to scrape 

 off the rough bark of trunk and limb wherever 

 it scales in such a way as to afford snug 

 retreats for insects. And blemishes of a more 

 important order, such as knot holes and de- 

 cayed surfaces where limbs have been cut away 

 or broken off in the past, should be carefully 

 excavated, all unsound tissue removed, and the 

 cavity filled with ordinary Portland cement 

 concrete. 



The latter process has been variously charac- 

 terized as tree carpentry and tree dentistry. 



Both terms are more or less suggestive of the 

 work achieved, regardless of names. The opera- 

 tion may result in prolonging indefinitely the life 

 of a valuable tree that would otherwise soon have 

 decayed beyond restoration. 



The trunk and branches of the tree having 

 been put in order, thought should be given to its 

 root system. The casual observer is likely to 



