256 PRACTICAL TREE REPAIR 



BLACK LOCUST 



The great fact about the locust, from our stand- 

 point, is its susceptibility to the attacks of the 

 locust borer. As a result its chances of long life 

 are so small that expensive work upon it is not 

 often justified. There is a yellow heart rot which 

 gains entrance to the wood through the burrows 

 of the borers. 



MAPLE 



The maple, being one of the commonest and 

 one of the best-loved shade trees, of course comes 

 frequently under the gouge, so to speak, of the 

 tree repairer. In the main they involve nothing 

 more than straightforward work. The red 

 maple, as has been said, is subject to frost cracks. 

 The silver maple has an inveterate tendency to 

 form bad crotches, which must be fought in small 

 trees by careful training, and its effects must be 

 negatived as far as is possible in old trees by brac- 

 ing. The red maple (and perhaps equally the 

 silver) often shows long shallow wounds in the 

 upper limbs, the result of the tearing out of minor 

 branches. The open treatment is usually the best 

 way to handle these wounds, though good jobs of 

 tinning can often be done upon them. The red 

 and silver maples are good subjects for severe 

 pruning, sending out adventitious shoots very 

 well. The sugar maple does so less readily. 



