The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-03-23
TREE SURGEONS
SCIENTIFIC WORK

The travelling tree surgeon, as this
ieft operator on crippled and diseased
trees is aptly called, is becoming an
in this country In New
the important work of doctor
ing decaying and decrepit trees and
giving them years of further life and
has been going on for sew.
eral years, but it is not confined to
the travelling expert, who is a recent
conner into the general field. Many
towns and cities in New England
support a tree surgeon as an official
and appropriate money annually to
meet the cost of his skill in treating
old and failing trees.
Tree surgery is but an advanced de-
velopment of arboriculture. Both fruit
and shade trees are valued now as
never before, and it is fast becoming
generally known that by skilful meth
DDS of tree surgery it is possible to
give new lease of life to trees which
apparently have reached their limit of
existence. The process of treating
trees that need the surgeons aid in
clude several branches, among them
the filling of cavities with cement,
trimming, claiming, packing, scraping,
spraying and fertilizing.
The travelling tree surgeon is usual
ly a graduate of some forestry school,
and begins his work by canvassing a
town and interesting individual tree
owners and municipal authorities in
the Importance of preserving their
shade and other trees. Familiarity
and long association with the trees
have blunted appreciation of the fact
that they are getting old, and many
years are necessary to grow new ones.
Rarely does the tree surgeon fail to
convince his hearers that the old trees
may be made 10 live for at least q
part of the time the new ones are
coming on to take their places. This
specialist usually charges So a day for
his services, or he will contract to do
the work required at so much tree.
And object 'esson in the beneficent
transformation the tree surgeon has
effected in trees which he he's treat
ed is offered in the village of Goshen,
n. Y, which community is 200 years
old. On many of it's magnificent elms
and naples, old as the village ITSELF
age and neglect had set the seal OF
approaching death. Now they show
new and astonishing vigor and prom
Use of many years of life, and yet the
tree surgeons treatment began only
three years ago.
The process of renewing the useful
ness of a tree is most interesting
After a mass of decay has been remov
ed from the interior of rotting trunk
there remains shell of living sap
wood and bark. Into this cavity {
steel brace is inserted and bolted il
place. This supplies that stability tC
the stem which was impaired by the
decay of the supporting heartwood
| Then what are known as the water
sheds are cut, to prevent moisture re
naming in contact with the wood
These consist of deep grooves Gu
about an inch inside of the edges 0
the cavity and down to the ground
Then the cavity is filled in with &c
ment, REINFORCED by wiring stretche,
from nails in the wood. The cemen
being pressed tightly into the water
sheds forms channels down which tn
water flows to be led out at the bas
OF the tree.
! The cement is built into the origina
outlines of the tree. The bark, whic
has been cut back for an inch or S
prevent its being bruised while tn
work is in progress, eventually COY
ers the filled in wound, thus givin
to the tree its normal appearance.
In the case of exceptionally larg
cavities the opening is covered b
strips of zinc. Cement is forced dow
into every crevicce and allowed to Sc
after which the zinc is removed an
a coat of fine finishing cement put o
and painted the color of the tree
bark. BY this method the tree SUI
geon is enabled ito build out tree
where sometimes half of the WOO
may have been destroyed by ligthnin
or from some other cause. 1t is n
markable how quickly such wound
will heal when thus protected frol
further decay.
Besides the benefit gained from tn
travelling tree surgeons work his az
vent has been Of great importance
arousing feeling of civic pride i
rural communities where the care {
and attention to their trees have neve
been given a thought. In places wher
,unscientific efforts to improve the al