54 CARE OF OLD TREES 



creosote. The carbolic acid solution is made by mixing one part of 

 "commercial" carbolic acid (liquid) with twenty parts of methylated 

 spirit. After this has become dry, a good thick coating of coal 

 tar should be laid on. The object of this antiseptic treatment is to 

 destroy the parasitic fungi and arrest, as far as possible, the decaying 

 process. Hollows that have taken the form of pockets and hold water 

 must be thoroughly drained ; the bottom of the hole may be located by 

 poking down with a piece of stiff wire, and its situation marked on the 

 outside of the trunk ; a hole must now be bored with an augur from the 

 outside upwards in a slanting direction to the bottom of the hollow, by 

 means of which the moisture can escape and wet decayed matter can be 

 extracted. The hollow or pocket must now be filled up and made water- 

 tight, but when once the holes have been cleaned out and drained there 

 is no need to hurry ; it is best to let the surfaces get dry before the rest 

 of the work is done. The best " stopping " for small holes is Portland 

 cement, or for small round ones a plug of oak will do (as for the augur 

 hole mentioned above). For very large holes the aid of the bricklayer 

 may be obtained. After the bricks are laid they should be surfaced with 

 cement. In the case of black trunks the outer layer of cement should be 

 heavily dusted over with soot, or lampblack may be mixed with the 

 cement. Asphalt has been recommended in place of cement for 

 "stopping," but I have not tried it. 



The chief points are : the keeping out of moisture, and the provision 

 of a surface over which the new bark may grow. If the tree is in a state 

 of vigorous health, as many hollow trees are, the bark will in time close 

 over the " stopping," just as it will over the flat sawn surface where a 

 branch has been newly removed. But unless some such surface is pro- 

 vided on which the Uew bark can set itself, it forms thickened rolls all 

 round the rims of the hollow, and these in hollows of large size will never 

 meet and close up. 



Supporting heavy and dangerous Branches. The dismember- 

 ment of large old trees whose limbs, having become unduly heavy, are 

 at the mercy of an unusually fierce wind, or a heavy fall of snow, may 

 often be prevented or long deferred by supporting the branches to the 

 main trunk, or to one another. The usual method of doing this is to 

 place an iron band, or collar, round each of the two branches that have 

 to be connected and joining them together by means of a chain or iron 

 rod. The iron band should be made with a hinge on the outer side, so 

 that it can be easily removed when the branch has grown too large for it. 

 The great defect of this system is, that the iron band presses on the bark 

 and tends to check the flow of sap, so that the branch soon begins to 

 thicken above and below it. If the band is not moved in time it will 

 Become entirely embedded. The remedy is, of course, to move the iron 



