ON PRACTICAL PLANS 



In connection with this removal of supple- 

 mentary branches, which is in effect a sort of 

 housecleaning operation, it will be well to scrape 

 off the rough bark of trunk and limb wherever 

 it scales in such a way as to afford snug retreats 

 for insects. And blemishes of a more important 

 order, such as knotholes and decayed surfaces 

 where limbs have been cut away or broken off in 

 the past, should be carefully excavated, all un- 

 sound tissue removed, and the cavity filled with 

 ordinary Portland cement or concrete. 



The latter process has been variously charac- 

 terized as tree carpentry and tree dentistry. 



Both terms are more or less suggestive of the 

 work achieved, regardless of names. The opera- 

 tion may result in prolonging indefinitely the life 

 of a valuable tree that would otherwise soon have 

 decayed beyond restoration. 



The trunk and branches of the tree having been 

 put in order, thought should be given to its root 

 system. The casual observer is likely to forget 

 that only about half the tree is visible, and that 

 the aerial half is not fundamentally more impor- 

 tant than the subterranean moiety. Yet it is ob- 

 vious that the root system furnishes the all-im- 

 portant source of supply of moisture and mineral 

 matter, lacking which growth could not take place 

 at all, let alone fruit bearing. 



[45] 



