CHAPTER VI 



THE VALUE AND FUNCTION OF FILL- 

 ING TREES 



AFTER finishing this chapter some readers 

 may think that the writer is like the doctor 

 who, as a physician, gave his patient some medi- 

 cine, and then, as a friend, advised him not to take 

 it. But he will not plead guilty to such a charge. 

 He believes that " tree surgery " has a function 

 and real value, but he thinks there are limits to 

 that value, and this chapter, roughly speaking, is 

 an attempt to define those limits. 



The first thing to be admitted, or stated, is that 

 the art of filling cavities in trees is still in an ex- 

 perimental stage, the value of the work, and even 

 the right ways of doing it, being as yet quite un- 

 certain. This statement may shock some people 

 who have seen fillings done by the better work- 

 men, and who have read or heard the claims of 

 the " tree surgeons." Yet with that statement 

 nearly every experienced arboriculturist in the 

 country will agree, and it is a statement which can 

 be proved. 



To begin with, we must study the effect of decay 



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