BRACING 211 



the rod and bolts should be made with care and 

 the entire operation should be planned in advance. 

 Sometimes it is necessary to put a joint in the rod 

 in order to make it possible to hook it over the 

 eyes. The puUing-up can be done by tightening 

 up the bolts, one of which should be given a long 

 thread with this in view. Where a greater strain 

 is required a turnbuckle must be inserted into the 

 rods. 



Considerable ingenuity is often required to find 

 a proper support for weak limbs when there is no 

 strong main trunk to anchor them to. The usual 

 solution is to make limbs on opposite sides of the 

 tree balance each other. Or, the braces can be 

 made to radiate from a ring in the center of the 

 group of limbs. It sometimes happens that the 

 top of a tree is broken off and that the remaining 

 limbs, which afterwards grow to considerable size, 

 are practically horizontal. If such limbs need 

 bracing, as they are apt to, a rod or tripod must 

 be set up in the center of the tree to take the place 

 of the trunk. 



In a few cases braces are impossible and props 

 must be used. The old forked-stick method does 

 very well for light work, but where a large limb 

 is to be permanently supported, a stronger device 

 must be used, and one which is less liable to injure 

 the bark. The best way is to use a pole with a 

 short iron rod inserted in the end, exactly like an 



