Evening star., 1909-03-14

are now, TO all appearances. $ thrifty
and healthy as they were in their prime.
At Annapolis one may see other ex-
amples of the tree surgeons work A
huge cavity in the famous Liberty tree
On the campus of ST. Johns College was
treated by them. and it is stated that
ifty-four tons of cement used in
filling the cavity after it had been care
fully cleansed. the rotten wood all re-
moved and the cavity steriliZed. This Is
one of the big jobs-a major operation,
as 1t were-and there are few examples of
such magnitude in the country. But the
method of doing the work makes It
even more noteworthy than does the size
of the job. and description of the man
ner In which a tree surgeon goes to work
will prove interesting to all who love old
trees and who feel sense of personal
loss when one o: these, weakened by
years of neglect and abuse. finally crash
ed to the ground, the victim of decay.
mans ignorance and the wrath of the
elements.
Illustration No. 1, herewith is, an ex-
cellent example of four branches of the
work of the tree surgeons. This tree is on
the country place of Mr.. George Welker
on Pierce Mill road near Connecticut ave-
nue. extended. Here the surgeons had TO
salve the problem of treating and filling
cavity. reinforcing the trunk at the
point of the cavity. staying the tree at a
point sufficiently high to prevent split
ting by reason of rough winds and
pruning weighty and unsymmetrical
limbs from the top Of the tree.
First chain placed high up be-
tween the two trunks into which the tree
Is divided. If this sort of work were to
be done by one of the ordinary tree
butchers he might have placed bands
around the two divisions of the trunk.
holt tiv,o he o,1ajr 70 thncn h0 dc
suit would have been that the circulation
in both branches would have been meas
urably decreased. the crown of the tree
would have been deprived of sap. and in
a few years the whole tree above the
chain would have been dead The tree
cureeon. however. bored holes through
the trunks. and in these holes placed eye
bolts. threaded at Gne end. y lae-chain
with hooks at each end was attached to
the eyes II Ih" bolts; large washers and
nuts were placed on the outside ends of
the rolts. TIE nuts were screwed on un-
il the desired tension was secured and
the tree was firmly hraced. and the re
suit IS a tree permanently stayed. with no
ugly bands OF rusty iron squeezing the
sap frGm the upper parts. And there will
be no i'll effects whatever to follow the
strengthening.
With this work done the surgeons
turned their attention TO the lower pop
ton Of the tree. A the fork of the
trunk a big cavity had formed. by rea-
of the !uns-continned action of rain
water and melting snow. Tie cavity was
flied with decayed wood. the rec was
badly weakened. and il was only a Ques-
ton Of short time before the split
would have come and al least one-hali
of the twin tree would have fallen.
To remedy this two things were neces-
sary. The twin trunks must be bolted
together just above the cavity. so as to
relieve the pressure caused by the weight
of the upper portions of the tree, and
the cavity must then be cleansed anti
septicized. filled and waterproofed. The
boiling together OF the trunks was done
first, as. had the cavity been cleansed
ard filed before this was done. the
weight of the upper paris coming on the
unsupported shell might easily nave split
off the main trunk clear to the ground
Holes were bored through both trunks
lust above the cavity. and through these
holes heavy bolts. with large heads
at one end and threaded at the other
were passed. A heavy turnbuckle was
placed on the threaded ends and screwed
up. thus bracing the trunk so that nc
amount of shaking or wrenching by the
wind can cause 1t to split
Then the cavity was treated. All the