The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-11-08
DENTISTRY
FOR TREES
Work Done to Preserve
Them From
Decay.

/. What is tree snrgery7 In SO far as
good answer would be that it is the
practical application of dentistry to
trees. But this answer would not
cover the many other branches of the
profession, consisting of trimming,
claiming, packing, seraping, spraying
and fertilizing. Tree surgery is In
fact an advanced development of ar
Horticulture. Both fruit and shade
trees are valued now as never before,
and the fact has become generally
known that by skilful methods of the
tree surgeon it is possible to give new
lease of life to trees which apparently
had reached the limit of their exist
ence. IT. is safe to say that almost
any tree of medium age may be saved
by these methods, says Cement Age.
OF the many branches embraced in
this work the cement filling forms by
far the Argest and most important
part. The practise of filing cavities
with cement has long been in use, but
when carried out along the usual lines
it only serves to add to the original
trouble The method of sealing up the
decayed section simply increased the
decay. Many examples may be seen
where the bark at the side of the cav
ity was covered By the cement. no re-
gard having been paid to drainage ''r
the subsequent healirg of the wound.
As the cement did not stick to the
wood and the swaying of the tree by
the wind often enlarged the crack be-
tween the wood and the filling, water
penetrated behind the cement and de-
cav went on even more rapidly than
before.
The tree grows in girth by the de-
post Of thin layer of new wood be-
tween the wood and the bark. There
are three LAYERS in this coat-the midi
die one being composed OF thin form.
ing tissues known as the "cambium.
The inner side of this layer forms new
wood, the outer new bark. 1t is THIS
new layer and the layers of the four
or FIVE previous years which are known
as the sapwood, and form the actlve
section of the trunk and branches. Inc
cells of these inner rings are gradual
ly covered by the yearly deposit or
new growth, and from living sapWood
become heartwood, which is dead and
serves merely as a strong framework
for the living parts of the tree and as
storehouses for excess material.
After a mass of decay has been re-
moved from the interior of a rottIng
trunk there remains a shell of living
sapwood and bark. Into this cavity
steel brace is inserted and bolted IN
place This gives to the tree a stabil-
ity which by the decay of the support
ing heartwood it had lost Now comes
an important operation, the cutting or
the watersheds, which prevent the en-
trance of moisture. The watersheds
consist of deep groove cut about an
inch inside the edge and opening to the
ground below. The cement, being pack
ed tightly into these grooves, forms a
channel down which the water flows, TO
be let out at the base. The cavity is
then wired throughout, the wire being
stretched from nails driven into the
wood, and acting as reinforcing for the
cement This work having been com
pleted, the cement is made as moist as
possible and then built out into the
original outline of the tree. The bark,
which has been cut back for an inch or
so in order to prevent bruising while
the work is in progress, viii eventually
cover the fillsd-in wound, the tree thus
regaining its normal appearance.
In the case of exceptionally large cav