24 PRACTICAL TREE REPAIR 



faces little clouds of brown dust. Each particle 

 of this fine dust is a spore which has the power to 

 grow and cause decay and to reproduce the mother 

 plant. How certain it is, then, that every wound 

 in a tree will sooner or later become infected by 

 some tree disease, and that every wounded tree 

 is a tree in danger. 



There are two general purposes or principles 

 which govern the treatment of wounds. We 

 must handle wounds in such a way as, first, to pre- 

 vent the entrance of decay and of insects, and, 

 second, to facilitate their healing. The first pur- 

 pose is of more immediate importance, on account 

 of the slowness of the healing process, which often 

 cannot take place at all if decay precedes it. The 

 second is, however, of great ultimate importance, 

 because healing entirely obviates the danger of in- 

 fection and helps the tree physiologically and 

 physically. 



The materials used in disinfecting and treating 

 wounds will be considered first, and then the dif- 

 ferent kinds of wounds trees receive most often, 

 and the way each kind must be handled. 



To keep insects and fungi from entering 

 through them, wounds must be covered with some 

 kind of protective dressing. Many different ma- 

 terials have been used for this purpose. Just at 

 present the matter of wound dressings is coming 

 to be a subject of careful investigation by arbori- 



