A PROGRAM FOR SAVING TREES 5 



are painted. Holes he suggests draining and 

 filling with dry sand. The mouth he would plug 

 with wood. " The plug should be driven so as to 

 be level with the inner bark; as, by that means, 

 Nature's efforts would not be obstructed in grow- 

 ing over it." The " Forester's Guide," published 

 in Edinburgh in 1824, contains a description of the 

 care of wounds which proves that its author, 

 Robert Monteath, knew nearly as much about that 

 subject as we do to-day. 



Skipping a few years, we find some interesting 

 notes in Count Des Cars' " Pruning of Forest 

 Trees," which was first printed in 1865 and was 

 translated from the French by Prof. C. S. Sargent. 

 Des Cars' main theses were the importance of 

 cutting close in removing limbs, and the value of 

 severe pruning in restoring old trees. But he has 

 something to say about cavities. As he is dealing 

 with trees as timber, it is only relatively small 

 wounds which interest him. These, he says, 

 should be thoroughly cleaned and painted with tar 

 and the opening plugged with wood. 



With this start, the development of modern 

 methods was easy. During the early period, we 

 must not forget, trees were repaired mainly for 

 their timber value. Trees which were badly 

 decayed did not have sufficient value to make it 

 worth while bothering with them. The fact that 

 timber trees were being operated on also had an 



