168 Practical Forestry 



with such ill effects as is the case when the chain or wire is 

 placed in direct contact with the branch, for even with the 

 most careful adjusting and packing, the uneven surface of 

 a chain, with its saw-like action during stormy weather, 

 soon renders the belting useless for the purpose intended, 

 and both bark and wood suffer in consequence. 



Occasionally we see holes bored through the live branch 

 or trunk in order to fix the binding rod or chain a most 

 reprehensible practice that, fortunately, has few supporters 

 amongst those who have even had a cursory knowledge of 

 trees and their growth. 



It is, however, generally admitted that there are several 

 disadvantages connected with bracing trees with iron rods 

 that pass through holes bored in the trunk or branch. 

 However carefully this operation may be performed, there 

 are grave risks from insect and fungoid attacks in holes that 

 have been made in living wood, as the friction caused by the 

 movement of the tree renders healing of the wound quite 

 problematical. Further, the movement of an embedded 

 iron rod is not only apt to cause friction with the wood but 

 the strain must often be in an opposite direction to that 

 which was intended, this increasing with the diameter of 

 the stem or branch. 



Another untidy, slipshod and most objectionable method 

 of staying a tree is by using wire as a band around the 

 trunk. This certainly has the virtue of cheapness, but in so 

 far as efficiency is concerned, and especially in the case of 

 old trees, it is to be deprecated. 



In the repairing and strengthening of tree limbs it should 

 consistently be borne in mind that any girdle or band that 

 either partially or wholly constricts the growth of a branch 

 defeats its own object by preventing the uninterrupted 

 flow of sap and impairing the strength of the limb. With 

 care in forming the band and a proper method of adjusting 

 it, there is no reason why the desired object of strengthening 

 a stem or branch may not be attained. On the other hand, 

 a badly formed, narrow band, too tightly applied and 

 without the requisite packing, may in a short space of time 

 be productive of the most unsatisfactory results, particu- 



