DISEASES OF TKEES UKELV TO FOLLOW LN.IURIES. 151 



question then is not so niueli to select the season when tlie cam- 

 bium is most active as that when the coating can be most securely 

 applied. During the warmer months the cut surface is kept moist 

 because the cells are then more succulent than in late autumn aucl 

 early winter, and it is not ahvays easy to apply the tar closely 

 under such circumstances. The pruning of deciduous trees 

 should, when possible, be performed in the late autumn or even in 

 early winter, rather than in summer, since the tar then adheres 

 better. Another important point is to saw off the branches carefully, 

 so that the cortex ma}' not be torn away from the wood, leaving 

 the latter projecting. This is always a more or less difficult 

 matter, because unless the cut is made in a horizontal direction, 

 which is seldom the case, the weight of the branch itself, during 

 the process of sawing, tends to tear away the cortex on the lower 

 side of the cut. Where it is possible, the branch should be 

 propped up during the cutting, and special care should be taken 

 that there is no tearing of the cortex on the lower side. Even 

 under favorable conditions, a pocket is apt to be formed on the 

 lower side of the Avound, and the application of tar at this point 

 should be made with great care, since wounds are almost always 

 vertical or oblique rather than horizontal, and rain and moisture 

 naturally collect at the lowest point of the wound, just where the 

 pocket is unfortunately made in cutting. It is evident that too 

 great care cannot be taken in covering this part thoroughly. 



After this sketch of the nature of wounds and of the danger 

 with which the life of trees is threatened, I trust that what I have 

 said in regard to treatment will appear rational and practical. I 

 must not, however, close my remarks ou this subject without 

 uttering an emphatic protest against the Avay in which the shade 

 trees of our cities and towns are treated. The responsibility rests 

 not only with those who, perhaps unintentionally and ignorantly; 

 are directly guilty of what an enlightened public opinion should 

 regard as vandalism ; but it rests in part on ourselves, if we do 

 not in all possible ways seek to give to the public, information, and 

 attempt by all legal means to secure the enforcement of such 

 regulations as shall assure proper protection for our trees. As it 

 is, the care of the trees in our public grounds, parks, and streets 

 is too often placed in the hands of those who are ignorant of the 

 principles of vegetable physiology, and their efforts to prune and 

 €ut down trees are guided only by what seems to them temporary 



