MANAGEMENT OF DECAYING TREES 39 



the wound and so setting up decay; and, to 

 avoid this, the point at which the branch 

 was broken over should be made smooth with 

 a pruning knife or saw and covered with an 

 antiseptic to prevent the ingress of damp as 

 well as aid in rapid healing. Old Elms 

 suffer most in this way, less so the Oak, 

 Beech, and various other trees; indeed, there 

 are few public parks in any of our larger 

 towns where decayed and dangerous Elm 

 trees are not to be found, the majority of 

 which have become diseased and rotten at 

 the core by the ingress of water at the 

 point where a branch had got broken off 

 by the force of the wind and have received 

 no attention in the way of pruning and 

 painting. 



The simplest and most successful method 

 of dealing with hollow trunks is to clean out 

 carefully and thoroughly all dead and decay- 

 ing matter, and when quite dry the interior 

 of the shell may be painted with creosote; 

 then fill up with a composition of one part of 

 Portland cement to three of clean gravel and 



