PARK AND CEMETERY. 
trunk, one or two should be cut at a time, 
the others being kept very short while the 
earlier wounds are healing. In shaping the 
top, select a leader and make, it as vigor- 
ous as possible by trimming all strong 
shoots near it and cutting back the more 
vigorous side branches. The proper form 
is best determined by the use of the den- 
droscope with a dendrometer. As the tree 
grows older, a few more of the lower 
branches will have to be removed and pos- 
sibly some of the upper ones taken out to 
keep the top from becoming too large or 
too dense. 
PRUNING PROPERLY DONE, BUT 
BRANCH NOT DRESSED. 
The removal of large branches is always 
attended with a certain amount of risk 
and this risk is largely increased when 
more than one or two are removed during 
the same season; but if the wounds are 
carefully dressed and borers' kept out, decay 
may usually be avoided, though the loss of 
food cannot be replaced. An overgrown 
top should usually be corrected by thinning 
out some of the longer branches. This is 
better than heading them back, because the 
effect of the latter process is to destroy the 
beauty of the tree and to produce a dense 
objectionable cluster of branches as well 
as to open a sure road for the entrance of 
disease. The cut end of a large branch 
rarely heals over, the adjacent parts die, 
and decay gradually extends to the trunk. 
Certain large and vigorous trees that 
stand pruning particularly well, such as the 
elms, lindens and sycamores, may best be 
headed bock, each limb being cut to one-half 
or one-third its length. From these cut ends 
new branches arise, which grow out vig- 
orously and uniformly, soon obliterating 
the more conspicuous effects of this style 
of pruning. By pruning the healthy limbs 
of old and falling trees new vigor is im- 
parted to them. Such pruning should 
usually be accompanied by the improve- 
ment of the soil. Very old elms in the 
London parks have responded to this mode 
of treatment with remarkable success. 
All misshapen and injured limbs should 
be trimmed or entirely removed. The 
sprouts that may appear on the wounds 
for a few seasons after pruning should be 
cut off during the latter part of the sum- 
mer. 
The work of pruning should be begun at 
the top of the tree and completed at the 
bottom. In this way the desired form can 
be better secured, and there is less danger 
of accident. The men employed should be 
careful not to do more damage by break- 
ing and bruising than they do good by 
pruning. A rope properly adjusted about 
the waist and fastened to a stout limb 
above the workman is an excellent means 
of sustaining the principal weight of the 
body while moving about through the tree. 
The form and direction of the cut when re- 
moving branches depends upon the position 
of the branch on the tree and upon whether 
it is to be simply shortened or entirely re- 
moved. Erect branches are shortened by 
cutting them at an angle, thus preventing 
the undue entrance of water, while side 
branches are cut perpendicularly for the 
same reason. The sap-lifter or small branch 
left near the cut should always be on the 
under side of the shortened branch, since 
if left on the top it grows erect and in- 
jures the symmetry of the tree. Branches 
to be removed should be cut off even with 
the trunk. This rule should be universally 
followed in all the trees, the conifers not 
excepted, even though the labor be in- 
creased five-fold. When large branches 
are shortened or removed, splitting and 
tearing may be prevented by making two 
cuts, the one beneath the branch being 
made first and followed by another above 
and about a foot farther from the trunk. 
A dead limb should be cut back even with 
the shoulder at its base. 
The work of pruning is by no means 
complete until the wounds are carefully 
smoothed down and properly dressed. 
This treatment enables the healing tissue 
to cover the wounds in the shortest possi- 
ble time and prevents the decay of the 
wood while healing is taking place. Ex- 
posed wood gradually loses water and 
cracks are produced in which dust and 
moisture collect and form a substratum for 
the growth of bacteria and moulds. Later 
the spores of larger fungi enter and by 
developing in this mass of decayed wood 
become sufficiently vigorous to attack the 
heart-wood and thus pass into the trunk 
of the tree. 
If some substance is applied to the 
wound which will prevent the evaporation 
of water and the consequent checking, de- 
cay may be avoided. Various mixtures 
have been used for. this purpose, of which 
lead paint and coal tar are probably the 
best. Both are antiseptic as well as pro- 
tective, if applied in thick layers. In the 
case of large wounds, which require sev- 
eral years to heal, it is well to put on a 
second coat after two or three years. Thin 
coal tar is not suitable for this purpose, 
as it does not prevent the evaporation of 
water. It may bp thickened by burning in 
an iron kettle. Coal tar does not injure -the 
tissues to any appreciable extent, since only 
the surface of the wood is cauterized by 
it and there is no vital connection between 
this wood and the callus which covers it. 
When used on the elm, it is prevented from 
adhering at times by water blisters, pecu- 
liar to this tree. In these cases, it should 
be rubbed off and another coat applied. 
BRANCH CUT EVEN WITH 
TRUNK. 
Wounds made by accident may be treated 
similarly to those made in pruning, after 
the injured tissues have been removed. 
Split trees should be joined with a bolt in- 
stead of a band. Bruised, loosened or dead 
bark should be entirely cut away, since it 
can never aid in repairing the injury, but, 
on the contrary, encourages decay and pre- 
vents the growth of new bark. Decayed 
wood should be removed and the cavity 
painted with coal tar, then plugged with 
dry oak wood and this smoothed on the 
outside even with the trunk and coated 
with tar. If the hole is too large to plug, 
a board is sometimes nailed in it and 
painted with tar or covered with zinc to 
keep bores away. At Wiesbaden, large 
holes are filled with cement, probably be- 
cause cement is so abundant in that region 
and so easily used. I noticed cement also 
used on trees in St. James’ Park, London. 
At Bonn, they make use of a heavy tarred 
felt for covering large- cavities in the trunks 
of trees. Sheet iron is often employed for 
this purpose in America, and to a limited 
extent in Europe. If the cavity is not 
made thoroughly antiseptic, however, the 
use of any of these coverings is of doubt- 
ful advantage, since the exclusion of dry 
air and light tends rather to encourage 
than to prevent decay. 
