176 



THE GYPSY MOTH. 



the bark becomes loosened, warping away from the wood 

 and finally falling off. This condition, so familiar to ol>- 

 serving people, may be seen by reference to Fig. 14, which 

 represents an extreme case. Nevertheless, in pruning, 

 such stumps are commonly (we might say usually) left, 

 not only by farmers and orchardists, but also by the em- 

 ployees of city street departments and park commissions 

 and even by the workmen employed in 

 public forest reservations. The stump 

 left exposed to sun, rain and the action 

 of the frost cracks. Water enters and 

 decay sets in which gradually extends 

 through the wood cells down into the 

 trunk. Therefore each stump left pro- 

 jecting eventually produces decay in that 

 part of the tree with which it connects. 

 FIG. 14. The stump dies Fig. 15 shows a short section of the trunk 



back, injuring the trunk. ,, , . , , , . 



of a tree on which such a stump has been 

 left. The stump shown at the right indicates the remark- 

 able effort made on the part of the tree to cover the wound ; 

 yet in the course of years the wood has 

 been eaten away by rot and the wound 

 has never healed. Decay has entered 

 the heart of the tree and is fast de- 

 stroying it. Had the branch been cut 

 even with the surface of the trunk and 

 the wound properly treated, it might 

 have been covered with new growth of 

 wood, and decay might have been pre- 

 vented. 



Wounds on vigorous trees caused by 

 FIG", is. Atrunk'ri'inedby tne removal of small branches in this 

 bad pruning. manner sometimes heal over because of 



the small size of the branches and the comparative short- 

 ness of the stumps. But as the stump often decays be- 

 fore the wound heals, injury to the tree results, and in 

 any case an awkward protuberance is formed on the 

 trunk. From such misshapen parts shoots or suckers usu- 

 ally spring. Another section of a trunk is here shown. 



