TRAINING AND REPAIRING ORCHARD TREES. 41 
injured surface with grafting wax. In cases of “barking,” 
which is almost unavoidable in large orchards, I have 
found a good remedy to be a liberal application of cow 
dung, over which stout cloths are firmly wound. All 
the loose bark should be removed. 
The disfiguring of the tops of trees by injuries from ice 
or wind, and by heavy loads of fruit, is a frequent occur- 
rence. In this matter ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a 
Fig. 4.-TWISTED BRANCHES IN A CROTCH, 
pound of cure.” In training young trees all crotches should 
be avoided. If the tree, as it comes from the nursery, has 
a fork, one branch should be removed and the other tied 
up perpendicularly. If bad crotches should occur in trees 
six years old or upwards, they should be braced. This 
bracing is done by twisting together two twigs, one from 
the inside of each branch of the crotch. The twigs may 
be twisted abont each other loosely, the ends being 
allowed to project freely beyond the opposite branches of 
the crotch (figure 4). If kept in place, these twigs will 
soon begin to adhere along their whole length, and after 
