Show FEW essentials OF TREE REPAIR WORK rr j A an excellent grove in front of a farm house prepared by the united states department of agriculture it Is it a well known fact that trees are arc subject to injuries from a great variety of causes in a great majority of cases these injuries aro are allowed to remain untreated often for years rot hot producing fungi commonly gain entrance at these places and eventually tho the original inconspicuous or unobserved injury develops into a comparatively largo area of decay tile tho real aim of tree surgery Is to repair tho the damage resulting from such buch neglected injuries and rotted areas says tho the united states department of agrical turo turn year book in most tree surgery work a few fundamental da dit principles must be observed in order that permanent good results may be renji realized zed these may b oum marizek as follows all decayed diseased or injured wood and bark when on small limbs this can often host best bo be done by removing the limb on larger limbs or on the trunk it may at times mean the digging out of a cavity sterilize and waterproof water proof nil all cut Bur surfaces faces leave the work in the most favorable condition for rapid healing this will often mean tho the filling of at deep cavities watch tho the work from year to year for defects and it any appear attend to them immediately and thus avoid loss lose or necessity f expensive repair in the future tree surgery or more inore properly tree repair work Is not it a mysterious art known only to a favored few who alone are fitted to undertake it as tome some interested persons would have tree owners believe it can be undertaken by any careful man who has as a good general knowledge ot of the structure and life history of a tree its normal manner of 0 covering wounds and how insects and decay organisms cause damage provided lie ho can handle a gouge and mallet a saw and a tar brush for work lit in tile tho tops of trees he ha will also need a clear head and ability to climb in its simplest type tree surgery consists in removing dead diseased or decayed limbs or stubs from a tree and treating the scar with an 4 ift elm leaves injured by the woolly aphid the elm tree pest which la is destroying many fine elms in city parks and elsewhere no lie and waterproof covering to prevent decay white healing another type consists lit cutting out tho the decayed and diseased matter in trees and filling the cavities avith ith cement or other material to facilitate tho the normal healing over process this la Is often referred to as treo tree dentistry a term which very aptly indicates tho the character of tho the work pilled cavities do not increase tho the strength of the trunk or limb to tho the extent that la Is generally supposed removing branches for the work of removing branches the most essential implements are a good sized saw with teeth so set as to make a wide cut a gouge a chisel a mallet and a strong knife for cutting limbs near the ground these are the iho only necessary implements A large limb should nu r be removed by sawing through from the upper side as this usually strips tho the bark and wood bolow the scar tile the proper way Is to mako make the first saw cut on the under side train from six inches to a toot foot beyond the point where the rin final ai cut is to be made it F hould reach frost from one fourth to one ene halt through tho the limb A good time to stop cutting Is when the saw becomes pinched in the cut the second cut if in made on tho the upper side aldo of tho the limb nn an inch or two beyond tho the first one this Is continued until tho limb falls after tho the limb has fallen a third cut to remove the stub la is mado made close to diio tho trunk and in line with its wood surface Bur faco when nearly sawed through tho the stub roust must bo be supported until completely severed vered so so as to avoid a any ny possibility of at stripping tho the bark below as it falls the first and second cuts to prevent stripping may be omitted when small limbs allm os which can bo be held firmly in place until completely ise vered are being cut when the scar Is not naturally pointed above and below it la is a good practise on most trees to remove a short triangular piece of bark from tho the upper edge so as to anticipate its dying back at these points this makes the scar pointed at both ends tile the most favorable shape for healing it Is important that some good sheilaa be applied with a Bul suitable table brush over ove the edge of the bark and outer wood immediately after the cut Is made it tho the bear Is a large one it la Is a rood good plan to use the knife around the edgo edge for ono one or two minutes and then shel lao the freshly cut surfaces rep repenting eiting the operation until all the bark and sap wood around the scar bear has been shellacked shel lacked the full benefit of 0 the shellac will not bo be achieved it if many minutes elapse between the cutting and the shellacking unless the freshly cut surfaces Bur tacoa are visibly moist with sap it necessary the woody murfa surface co of 06 scar ecar may now bo be smoothed oft off with A chisel and mallet to conform in general shape with tho the tree trunk antiseptic and waterproof Vater proof dressings the final operation Is to sterilize and waterproof tho the surface of the exposed wood and bark for this purpose many preparations have been used recent extensive tests testa by specialists cia lists in timber pr andt indicate cate that some of the creosotes creo stand far ahead of all other preparations in their power to destroy and prevent the growth of certain wood destroying fungi and that ordinary creosote although it does doea not head tho the list Is far better than the other preparations except some of the less lesa known and less lesa available creosotes creo furthermore creosote penetrates tho the wood better than a watery antiseptic commercial creo creosote soto can be applied with an ordinary paint brush over every part of the exposed wood tho the entire shellacked shel lacked and creosoted surface must finally be waterproofed by painting it with heavy coal tar A single application of a mixture of creosote and coal tar about one fourth or one third creosote has been quite extensively used with good results at though although one coating of this mixture may at times bo be sufficient it is always safer to follow it with a heavy coat of coal tar A good grado ot of lead paint can bo be substituted for tho the tar it if desired although it is not generally considered as satisfactory or grafting wax may serve satisfactorily for small email surfaces asphalt and various preparations containing asphalt are ara excellent waterproof coverings and would doubtless bo be moro more generally used it not necessary to apply them hot A good and possibly more permanent method of treating the scars la Is to char tho the sur frico filice slightly with a gasoline or alcohol blast torch and then cover lie hot surface with heavy tar or hot asphalt although heat la is an excellent sterilizing agent it does not penetrate as aa well as creosote and it kills hills back the cambium or soft forming wood to a greater extent tools the necessary tools for digging cut decayed matter aro are few As AB a rule two outside ground socket handled gouges conr with a curved cutting edge of about three fourths of an inch and the other perhaps ono and a half inches a chisel a mallet a knife and an oilstone tono are sufficient clent for ordinary work tho gouges chisel and knife should never bo be used near the cambium when they lack a reen keen edge as aa dull tools will v all injure it in cutting out deep cavities longer interchangeable handles bandies for the gouges may liay be necessary A ladder or a stepladder will be required it the work Is more than five feet from the ground climbing optics should be avoided as aa they cause injuries which may allow infection by organisms causing rot or parasite dla eases |