TREE SURGERY 347 



workman should carry a saw, a bucket of wound dressing and 

 a large brush. When diseased twigs are to be removed, pruning 

 shears should be used. In sawing off limbs of any size, care 

 must be taken to prevent splitting and tearing of the bark below 

 the cut. Two preliminary cuts should be made about a foot 

 from the base of the limb ; a shallow cut from below and then 

 the limb is sawed off beyond the lower cut. The final cut is 

 then made by sawing even with and parallel to the trunk or 

 limb from which the stub projects. It is even advisable to 

 make a preliminary cut at the base of the stub, to guard further 

 against peeling the bark. The shoulder of the stub should be 

 removed, even though it results in a larger wound. A cut made 

 to conform with the outline of the parent branch or trunk will 

 heal much more rapidly than if a stub, even less than an inch, 

 is left. In the case of large pruning wounds, a sharp chisel and 

 mallet are necessary to smooth off the cut surface, especially in 

 shaping the edge of the bark and making the cut as close to the 

 body as possible all around the wound. A sharp knife is then 

 useful for the final smoothing of the bark, and as this proceeds a 

 coating of good shellac should be applied with a brush. Unless 

 this is done, following the knife closely, the bark will dry out 

 and the cambium will be killed back and thus delay the healing 

 process. . The wound, if large, should be pointed above and be- 

 low, since round wounds do not heal rapidly on the upper and 

 lower sides. The bark often dies at these places and two new 

 unprotected injuries result which will need further attention. 



For small wounds of an inch or less, where the cut surface 

 does not bleed excessively, two operations are sufiicient ; first saw 

 off the limb and then apply a good dressing, — coal-tar or as- 

 phaltum. For this purpose the pruner carries a small can of the 

 wound dressing and applies it with a brush. For all larger 

 wounds several steps are necessary, especially when the wound is 

 more than two or three inches in diameter. The following 

 operations are required in order to leave the wound in such a 



