1911. 
THE RURAL* NEW-YORKER 
616 
REPAIRING OLD APPLE TREES. 
Surgical Treatment with Cement. 
The following article is not intended for a scientific 
explanation of the principles of expert tree surgery, 
but rather to show what has been and can be done in 
repairing old apple trees that many people think are 
beyond help. In doing this work nothing is required 
beyond a good saw, mallet, chisel and a small scraper 
made of a piece of three-eighths inch iron flattened at 
one end and bent at right angles for the purpose of 
scraping out the rotten wood and chips from cavities. 
For the cementing a small trowel is essential for good 
work. 
No. 1, Fig. 174, shows the stubs on one tree, and 
No. 2 shows the same tree one year later. You will 
notice that the new growth is pushing out around the 
edges of the painted cut and a little nearer the center 
you may distinguish the cement with which the cavity 
is filled. The spot below on the tree shows where a 
three-fourths inch hole was bored to intersect the 
cavity. After the cavity had been treated and dried 
out the cavity, including the auger hole, was cemented 
up and the surface later well painted. While this 
cut will probably never heal over, being nine inches 
across, the treatment has added at least 10 years to 
the life of the tree. From 
cavities like this we 
drained as much as 
three quarts of water 
when making the re¬ 
pairs. Some of these 
stubs may appear sound, 
but may be badly de¬ 
cayed and full of insects 
under the surface ; in fact 
the decay does not be¬ 
come apparent until it 
has progressed far 
enough under the sur¬ 
face to allow the surface 
to fall out or in. 
No. 3 shows a tree 
that has a cavity extend¬ 
ing from the upper 
cavity to the ground. 
This is an extremely bad 
case, but this tree, after 
being taken care of, has 
given us two crops of 
apples, either one being 
sufficient to pay all the 
expense of repair, arid 
the tree is good for a 
long time yet. Contrary 
to theories the fruit from 
this tree was first-class. 
No. 4 shows another 
extreme case in which 
the cavity was so exten¬ 
sive as to leave less than 
half the tree trunk of a 
tree which had a vigor¬ 
ous top. Ordinarily I 
would put the rough 
stone in the middle of 
the cavity, finishing with 
smooth cement, but the 
trunk was weak for the 
top, and we built out the 
cement with the stone to 
give greater body and strength. Later on, as the tree 
gets in better shape, the rough stone may be broken 
off and the surface properly finished. 
No. 5 shows a bad case of trimming, where two 
large limbs had been cut off near their union, about 
18 inches from the trunk. The outer mark on the 
stub shows where I would have made the cut in the 
first place, and the lower mark where the cut was 
actually made. A further examination of the tree after 
the stub was cut off showed that there was a cavity 
below the cut, which extended down the body of the 
tree a foot. Properly cleaning, cementing and paint¬ 
ing this cut put the tree in good condition. The pic¬ 
ture shows also some short stubs of smaller limbs have 
been left to decay, and while nature is making a great 
effort to close these places, if the cut had been prop¬ 
erly made in the first place, the cut would have been 
healed long ago, but now the injury extends probably 
a foot down the body. I usually cut off these projec¬ 
tions close to the tree and treat them. While this 
makes a larger cut, with proper treatment it will close 
the cut properly and be in a healthy condition. Some 
people advocate cutting off the limbs where the ring 
shows near the junction, but this is not to be relied 
upon, and all cuts should be made as near the body as 
possible, making it easier for the new growth to cover. 
Ihere is one class of tree injury that is quite com¬ 
mon and one of the most serious. It is an injury on 
the trunk of the tree; perhaps it may arise from 
something breaking the bark close to the ground and 
the bark recedes a short distance, perhaps at first the 
hand would cover the entire place, which if neglected 
will permit insects and fungi to enter, and the outer 
wood weathers hard while the deadly work may be 
going on inside. It will not be noticed until the in¬ 
jured place may be enlarged from the inside and 
gradually extends upward and backward. I have one 
extreme case of such an injury, the decay having 
gradually extended upward, and .the bark on one of 
the large limbs has now become seriously affected. 
The tree is nearly a wreck, but even this tree may be 
saved for some years by cleaning out the cavity thor¬ 
oughly and cementing or painting it as may be deter¬ 
mined on. In this connection I wish to say that where 
the trunk of a tree is in such bad condition that it is 
obvious that filling the cavity with cement will not 
close it effectually against water and insects, I paint 
and keep painted the surface of the cavity inside, un¬ 
less it is necessary to give the tree the additional sup¬ 
port of the cement filling. In some cases I have had the 
cavity has passed directly through the tree trunk, 
but with strong healthy wood all around the cavity, 
in which case if the cement filling would not be effec¬ 
tive in the way of preserving the trunk from insects 
and disease, applying the paint is the better treatment. 
Many trees are cracked at the junction of the limbs 
either from a load of fruit or a storm. These cracks 
I close by putting one or two bolts through at the 
most effective place. In doing this cut the bark away 
from where the head and burr of the bolts will bear 
before you put in the bolts, for if the bark is left 
when the burr is drawn up, the bark will be puffed 
up for some distance around them and it will make it 
much more difficult, if not impossible, to heal over the 
bolt ends, which are well waxed or painted to pro¬ 
test the injury. Trees that are cracked, where from 
the spreading nature of the limbs it is impossible to 
use a bolt to pull them up, I put two loops of strong 
galvanized wire around two of the limbs at a suit¬ 
able distance up and after putting some pieces ol 
board under the wire where it is against the limb, I 
take a piece of stick or iron bar as a turnbuckle and 
twist the wires together, which draws up the limbs 
and closes the crack, which is then thoroughly waxed 
or cemented to prevent water and insects from en¬ 
tering. Finally all cement work is thoroughly painted 
when dry, and I aim to keep it painted as long as 
exposed. Many old trees that the owner considers 
too far gone for repair may be rejuvenated and made; 
to last many years by a little intelligent repair work, 
which will give us immediate returns in more and 
better fruit. Any ordinary tree will pay for the ex¬ 
pense and work done on it, in one season, and it is 
wonderful what nature will do if we give her a little 
assistance along this line. g. a. watt. 
Ohio. 
GRAPES OR APPLES—WHICH ? 
I am planning to buy a small fruit farm In this section, 
and am uncertain whether to invest In a vineyard or in 
an apple orchard. As you well know, western New York 
is famous for both, so that it is a matter of choosing 
which is the more profitable. Assuming that both proper¬ 
ties are first-class as regards condition, cultivation, and 
age and variety of fruit, in which would you say the 
greater profits seem to be promised for the next five or 
10 years? There is less territory in which grapes can be 
successfully grown on a commercial scale, and the recent 
establishment of two new grape juice factories in this 
locality will doubtless increase the demand. Grapes seem 
to be more easily cared for than apples, but on the other 
hand the latter can be sold on the trees, which is some¬ 
times an advantage. It is difficult for a greenhorn to 
decide, and I would greatly appreciate your opinion on the 
matter. 
Erie Co., N. Y. 
It may be hard for a greenhorn, but it would be 
just as difficult for the most ripened head to decide 
without knowing the man. For, in the end, it will go 
past the matter of grapes or apples, and be determined 
by the man who makes the investment. That is what 
many “back to the landers” seem to forget. Since 
January 1 we have been interviewed by at least 150 
city people who think of 
leaving a city job and 
going to the country to 
buy a farm. After talk¬ 
ing half an hour with 
them we should say 
that farm success was 
impossible for at least 90 
of them. Their talk and 
their appearance showed 
at once that they knew 
nothing about life in the 
country. Their habits 
had unfitted them for 
the hard and persistent 
work required to make 
a home on a piece of 
land. Some of them re¬ 
sented a frank opinion 
that they would be bet¬ 
ter off to remain where 
they are. It would be 
both foolish and cruel to 
shout “Back to the land” 
to such people and urge 
them without any re¬ 
serve to move to ,the 
country. Among the 150 
we have talked with 
were about 40 who 
could, if they tried, 
make a good living in 
the country and would 
probably be better off 
there. The difference 
was not so much one of 
size and strength but of 
spirit and endurance, 
courage and that indefi¬ 
nite quality which we 
call “common sense.” 
In the case mentioned 
above we do not know 
whether “D.” has ever 
handled fruit, or whether 
his knowledge comes from observation. Grape 
growing is a very different proposition from 
orcharding. Personally we would prefer the apple 
orchard, while it would be easy to find a dozen men 
who greatly prefer the grapes. So back of it all stands 
the personal inclination of the man and his ability to 
do certain kinds of work. The “Back to the land” man 
does not usually think of these things, yet if he works 
in a large store or factory he must see that work in 
one department is very different from that in another. 
This is a good question for discussion, and we will 
try to get expert fruit growers to give all sides of it. 
Which do you prefer, apple or grape culture—and 
why ? _ 
I am glad to see that you keep up the Interest In the 
discussion on the producer’s share of tTie consumer’s 
dollar. There is one phase of this matter that I have 
not seen touched upon. In many sections of Ohio, and I 
have no doubt the same is true of many other States, 
fully 75 per cent of the men who actually farm the land 
do not own the land which they work. A very large 
per cent of the farming of this State is one form or an¬ 
other of tenant farming. When these men figure their 
share of the consumer’s dollar the share which the land¬ 
lord gets must come out first. w. 
That is a good point to discuss. If the man who 
does the work must take 35 cents of the consumer's 
dollar and then turn 15 cents or more over to the 
owner of the farm, there will not be much left for his 
wife. We want the exact figures from some of these 
tenants. It will be good to compare their income and 
the cost of their crops with the items from farmers 
who are workers and land owners combined. 
SURGERY AND CEMENT IN THE APPLE ORCHARD. Fig. 174. 
