EEMOYING DEAD BEANCHES. 



183 



Fig. 17. Decaying branch left on 

 the trunk of tree. 



times broken off by the wind, leaving a long stump project- 

 ing from the tree. The ragged surface of the break offers 

 perfect conditions for the beginning of decay, and the seams 

 of the stump communicate it rapidly 

 to the trunk. Fig. 17 shows a section 

 of a tree trunk bearing the broken 

 stump of a dead branch. The tree, 

 being vigorous, has pushed forward 

 callus on the branch and partially 

 covered it with new wood and bark. 

 This attempt at healing might have 

 been successful had the branch been 

 broken close to the tree ; but in this 

 case the effort of the tree to heal the 

 wound was of no avail. The neglect 

 to remove these dead branches is often indirectly the cause 

 of cavities in tree trunks. When living branches are broken 

 by the wdnd, heavy loads of fruit or other causes, the stumps 

 should be removed. Such ragged and broken snags offer 

 points of attachment for parasitic fungi; and if the break 

 occurs in summer, when the sap is flowing, the conditions 

 are particularly favorable for the propagation of these fungi, 

 and the extension of wound rot. 



The decay of a tree trunk resulting from improper pruning 

 and the neglect to remove broken branches is shown in Fig. 

 18. Such rotting away of the wood of the tree as is shown 

 here will not occur immediately, but is 

 the result which will inevitably, in the 

 course of years, follow such a policy. If 

 pruning is begun on the young fruit tree 

 by nipping off buds and directing shoots 

 so as to form a symmetrical head, and is 

 carried on with good judgment as the tree 

 grows, there will be no need of the ampu- 

 tation of large limbs, except such as are 

 broken by accident or die from other causes. 



Amputations of the large lower branches 

 of shade trees are often necessary in pruning 

 for beauty and utility. In orchards bad pruning often neces- 

 sitates later the removal of large, decaying hollow limbs, lest 



Fig. 18. Sectional view 

 of a trunk, showing the 

 result of neglect and 

 bad pruning. 



