io6 PRACTICAL TREE REPAIR 



number eleven (weighing a little less than two 

 pounds), and a handle about ten inches long. 



After these tools, perhaps the most useful is a 

 light hand ax, especially in large work. An adz 

 is also very useful, as is a pruning saw of the 

 " meat-saw " type, the blade of which can be set 

 at right angles to the handle, making it a handy 

 tool when there is a large " lip " to be cut from the 

 edge of a cavity. 



Several more or less successful efforts have been 

 made to devise machines for excavating decayed 

 wood. As yet none of these has come into general 

 use, the extremely variable conditions presented by 

 work in trees giving human labor a peculiar ad- 

 vantage over the less easily controlled mechanical 

 devices. 



Under the head of tools ought also to be men- 

 tioned the ladders necessary for getting at the cavi- 

 ties to be excavated when they are high above 

 ground. The devices used, the various combina- 

 tions of ladders, step-ladders, planks, and ropes 

 which are made for the purpose of securing a com- 

 fortable footing while at work, are endless. The 

 work to be done and the materials at hand with 

 which to do it will suggest to a handy man the best 

 arrangements which can be made under the exist- 

 ing circumstances. It saves time to make the con- 

 ditions of work in each case as comfortable as pos- 

 sible. 



