348 MANUAL OF TREE DISEASES 



condition that it will not afford entrance to decay-producing 

 organisms. If the wound bleeds profusely, it may be necessary 

 to wait a few days until the surface dries, otherwise the opera- 

 tions described below should follow in a day or so, or better 

 immediately. 



Disinfecting Wounds 



The woody portion of the cut should be disinfected. Three 

 methods may be used : 



1. Swabbing the wound with a water solution of a disinfectant. 

 Mercuric chloride or copper sulfate are advised. Mercuric 

 chloride may be bought in tablet form. One or two tablets to 

 a quart of water is sufficient. If copper sulfate is used, a solu- 

 tion should be made by dissolving one oimce of copper sulfate 

 in three,quarts of water. 



2. The surface of the wound may be seared with a gasoline 

 torch. This method should be employed especiaUy when the 

 woimd continues to bleed. 



3. The wound may be painted with a wood preservative, 

 ordinary creosote being satisfactory. It penetrates into the 

 wood much fiu-ther than a water solution of an antiseptic sub- 

 stance. It should not be used, however, on bark. 



Wound Dressings 



The next important operation is the application of a durable 

 wound dressing. Two difficulties must be overcome in applying 

 this : first, the wound is usually moist and it is difficult to make 

 some dressings adhere tenaciously ; and second, the sm-face will 

 check on drying and no dressing wiU prevent this. These diffi- 

 culties may be somewhat overcome by applying a temporary 

 dressing followed, after the surface begins to check, by the per- 

 manent dressing. 



Tar, asphaltum, lead paint, slater's cement and many "tree 

 paints" are available as wound dressings. Ordinary coal-tar 



