82 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



Banding Substances. — A study of the effects of different 

 banding substances has been published in the 1907 report of 

 the Hatch Experiment Station. The writer has since then had 

 an opportunity to study these effects quite extensively. Tan- 

 glefoot appears to be the only substance that does not cause 

 injury when applied directly to the bark, i.e., when tarred or 

 other heavy paper is not used. Many laboratory samples of sub- 

 stances resembling tanglefoot have been made ujo, but in only 

 one instance have anv of these materials resembled tanglefoot 

 in practically all its properties ; at least, among those which 

 have come to our notice. While the injuries from banding 

 siibstances have been quite pronounced, practically all of the 

 substances causing injury have now been discarded. 



An examination of many trees treated with the so-called 

 tanglefoot has revealed only one case of girdling, and even 

 in this case we were not able to obtain any clue to the manu- 

 facturer of the particular material causing the injury. This 

 substance, although resembling tanglefoot, may have been one 

 of its many imitations, some of which are known to cause in- 

 jury. The only other case of injury from tanglefoot was 

 where it had been applied to the trunk at the same place for a 

 number of years. The oil seemed to penetrate the outer bark 

 to some extent, affecting the texture of the bark ; but this in- 

 jur}^ is not serious, so far as we have observed, and can be 

 prevented by changing the location of the band occasionally. 

 We have never noticed any injury from the use of tanglefoot 

 to the cortical tissue or cambium located just underneath the 

 bark. Our previous experiments show that the most delicate 

 tissue was not injured when it was applied to various plants. 

 But injury was noticed to smooth-bark trees when other banding 

 substances were ajDplied even on tarred paper. Tarred paper 

 alone is capable of injuring the bark of some trees, and the 

 injury mentioned above may have been caused in this way. 



Salt. — Salt used on sidewalks, in gutters and on trolley 

 lines in winter has been known to cause injury to the root sys- 

 tems of trees. In one instance we noted injury to several small 

 maples growing near a sidewalk and gutter which had been 

 treated heavily with salt. In one or two other cases where salt 



