222 PRACTICAL TREE REPAIR 



or nearly its whole, area. This was explained 

 to the men and they were instructed as to the 

 proper treatment of the wounds. At the corner 

 of each "block" (ten acres) a bottle of shellac 

 and one of liquid grafting wax, and a bundle of 

 rags were hung in a tree. When a man barked 

 a tree he went at once to the nearest outfit and 

 got the bottles and some rags. Then he trimmed 

 away the loose bark with his knife, poured out 

 some of the wax on a bit of cloth, and spread it 

 (the wax) over the wound. Finally, he bound 

 the wound with cloth and smeared the cloth over 

 the wound with shellac. Even the California 

 sun could not dry out a wound so treated, and 

 most of them healed perfectly. 



Some such system as this should be in force in 

 every large grounds and in every orchard. For 

 the most part, however, it will be sufficient to have 

 a single repair outfit kept, always ready for use, 

 at the barn or toolshed. 



In addition to this emergency treatment, there 

 ought to be a thorough yearly inspection and treat- 

 ment of all valuable trees, be they along the street, 

 or in park, grove, or orchard. The time at which 

 the yearly round is made is of little consequence. 

 A fairly complete outfit is essential. A box like 

 a carpenter's nail box makes a handy arrangement 

 to carry things around in, the tools on one side 

 and the dressings on the other. The tools likely 



