The weekly true Democrat. (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1905-1912, 1908-09-11
NOW DENTISTRY
FOR OUR TREES.
Interesting WOFE Dons Nowadays to
Preserve Trees Peom Decay.

/ FEeaoEVs AEeoa btoAA OeGAys
The following interesting article,
taken from Scaneateles, N. Y. Semi
Weekly Free Press, was sent to the True
Democrat for reproduction IN these col
umns by q Tallahassee friend Of this
newspaper. 1t is interesting, read It:
What Is tree SURGERY In 80 far az
Il applies 20 the cement work alone q
good answer would be that it is the
practical application Of dentistry to
trees. But this answer would not cover
the many branches Of the profession,
consisting Of trimming, claiming, pack
ing, scraping, spraying and fertiliZing.
Tree surgery 10 In fact al advanced de-
velOpment Of arborculture. Both fruit
and shade trees are valued now as never
before, and the fact has become gener-
ally known that by bkillfui methods Of
the tree surgeon II IL possible to give
new lease of life 70 trees which appa-
rently had reached thier limit of,exis-
tenee. It Is safe to say that almost any
tree Of medium age may be saved by
these methods.
OF the many branches embraced in
this work the cement filing forms by
far the largest and most important part.
The practice of filling cavities with ce-
ment has been long In use, but when
carried out along the ugucl lines 1t 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 cavity was COW
cred by the cement, no regard having
been paid to drainage or the subsequent
healing OF the wound. Az the cement
does not stick to the wood and the
sWaying Of the tree by the wind often
enlarged the crack between the wood
and the nling, water penetrated behind
the cement aha decay went on even
more rapidly than before.
The tree grows Ia girth by the deposit
of q thin layer of new wood between
the wood and the bark There are three
layers IN this cOat-the middle one being
composed Of thin forming tissues known
as the ''cambium." The inner side Of
this layer forms new wood, the outer
new bark. II is this new layer and the
layers Of the four or fvepreVious years
which are known as the sapwoOd, and
forms the active section of the trunk
and inches. The cells of these inner
rings are gradually cove ed az the year
~ deposit OF new growth, abd from hV-
ing sapWoOd become heartwood, which
is dead and serves merely as q frame
work for the living parts Of the tree and
as storehOuses for excess material.
This Is the reason why hollow trees
condition when the heartWoOd may
have entirely disappeared. However,
q landscape tree III this condition, de-
prived Of the shelter Of it's fellows, is
in grave danger, for high wind or a
heavy snowfall may find it an easy vic
tim.
After q mass of decay has been re-
moved from the interior Of q rotting
trunk there remains shell of living
sapwood and bark Into this cavity
steel brace Is inserted and bolted in
place. This gives 20 the tree a stabil-
ity which by the decay of the support
ing heartwOod.it had lost. Now comes
an important operation, the cutting of
the watersheds, which prevents 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
packed tightly into these grooves,
forms channel down which the water
flows, to be led out at the base. The
cavity is then wired throughout, the !
wire being stretched from nails driven |
into the wood, and acting as re-enfOrc- !
ing for the cement. This work having |
been completed 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 will event |
ually cover the filled-in wood, the tree |
thus regaining its normal appearance.
In the case of exceptionally large |
cavities the opening is covered by,large |
strips of zinc. The cement Is then |
forced down into every crevice and al
lowed to set, after which the zinc is re-
moved and a coat Of fine finishing cement
put on and painted the color Of the bark.
By this method the tree surgeon is en-
abled TO build out trees where fully
half the wood may have been destroyed
by lightning or from some other cause.
This treatment serves as a hne example
Of the healing powers Of nature, for il
is remarkable how quickly these wounds
will heal when protected from moisture
and further decay by the cement filling
insured by the watersheds. Cement
Age.
Tree Surgery: James A. Davey, Of
= school Of practical forestry, and six
tree doctors" and surgeons, armed
With mammoth lancets and cart loads
1f tree dope" are at work on the
grounds Of +. r. Hazard &C Solvay,
treating the trees according 70 the lat
at and most aDpPoved mefhoda
What the dentist does Tor the teeth