Let us return to the study of our pho- 

 tographs. In photo 9 you have an example 

 where the snow and ice broke down a large 

 branch. The wound was not attended to 

 for some three years. The old, dead wood 

 has now been dug out and a heavy coat of 

 paint applied. The tree is badly damaged, 

 but if this wound be dressed every year, it 

 will last, probably, a long time. Photo 10 

 presents another old sore that had been 

 doctored. This is a genuine Rock Maple. 

 The tree is in excellent condition in all 

 other respects. A branch was cut off and 

 allowed to split the bark down. The wound 

 was not dressed. It was exposed for some 

 six or seven years. Finally the owner 

 called on us to attend to it. We found that 

 the rot had penetrated nearly to the heart 

 of the tree. By the use of a mallet and 

 chisel all the decaying bark and wood was 

 removed. The process was much the same 

 as a surgeon would adopt in scraping a 

 diseased bone. Everything was cut away 

 until healthy wood was reached. Then the 

 cavity was filled in with putty, using a 

 mallet and a short piece of wood, driving 

 the putty in solid. Then it was painted. 

 It was not seen for two years. It was then 

 discovered that the lower part of the cavity 

 had not been cut quite slanting enough, 

 and the water had lodged there, causing 

 decay to start in again. But if you will 

 observe the upper portion around the putty, 

 you will see what a most excellent healing 

 operation has been going on. 



In photo 23 you have another example 

 of what evil can be done by allowing the 

 bark to split down and the neglect of dress- 

 ing the wound. The huge cavity where 

 the lady's hand is presents to you one of 

 those cases. The whole block of wood 

 which you see is the "head" of an apple 

 tree. It is the junction of the stem and 

 large branches. The point facing you, 

 where it has been sawed off, was the upper 

 part of the trunk. By this you can see how 

 the rot ran down. In the photo below (24) 

 you have the same block turned around. 

 Bv this you will observe how the action of 

 decay traveled /> into the main arms. As 

 before stated, if you trace this decay with 

 the microscope you will find that the tree 

 is affected, root and branch, to the farthest 

 extremities. And yet, from this you would 



