160 Practical Forestry 



Young, healthy, vigorous growing trees, that have become 

 damaged or diseased, should in the majority of instances be 

 attended to ; but in the case of old specimens on which a 

 great amount of labour and money would necessarily have 

 to be expended, several important bearings must be con- 

 sidered before works of repair are taken in hand. Historic 

 and valuable trees, those occupying prominent positions on 

 a lawn or park, town trees where vegetation is scarce, and 

 such as are not too old and fragile, may be dealt with 

 within certain bounds, but to doctor all diseased and hollow 

 trees on the most approved principle in such places as 

 Epping Forest or Burnham Beeches would be highly im- 

 prudent, whether in view of the little benefit which in many 

 instances would accrue by so doing or of the great expense 

 involved in such an operation. 



The filling, too, must be adapted to circumstances, and 

 to deal with the entire trunk of a hollow tree is in most 

 cases quite out of the question, both from the point of 

 utility and expense. Short-lived trees, such as the Alder, 

 Birch and Poplar, or such as are liable to sudden attacks 

 of insect and fungoid pests, and those that are unfavourably 

 situated in mining and chemical areas, should be scantily 

 dealt with, but the practical woodman will see at a glance 

 which trees are best worthy of his attention and treatment. 



Probably the simplest, and certainly the cheapest method 

 of dealing with diseased and hollow trunks is to clean out 

 thoroughly all dead and decaying matter, the interior being 

 scraped and swept with a rough brush, so that the loose 

 rotting wood and bark is removed. When quite dry, the 

 interior of the trunk should be painted with one, or pre- 

 ferably with two coats of creosote or carbolineum, and 

 filled up with a composition of one part of Portland cement 

 to three of clean gravel and sand, the surface coating at 

 the orifice containing the largest quantity of cement. A 

 coat of coal tar on top of the dry creosote goes far in making 

 the concrete adhere firmly to the wood. 



When a fairly healthy tree is being operated upon, and 

 when the bark is likely to grow over the exposed surface, 

 the concrete should only be brought up on a level with the 



