The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-08-04
chestnut bark disease, infects

chestnut bark disease. infects the trees of a district. the community oF lindividuals in it. will often spend considerable money to control raw ages which may rob the whole di1e trfct of its trees An affeetion like the chestnut bark dtseass is copta of tf1e disease to know W neither an af- fected tree should be destroyed at once or is worth treating. It require scientific training to understand the manner of growth of the fungi caus- ing the disease and what treatment E best
 Many indfviduals who have had faith in tree surgery have losL it through following the advice of unre- 1 liable tree surgeons who claimed to be able to diagnose a case but witosa main interest was to collect a socd sum of money for their work.
 Misuse of Pruning Hooks
 and Climbing Device
 Besides the careless filling, of de- cayed cavities in trees, there are othse i practices of certain so-caIled trea
 surgeons that do the trees raore 1 harm than good. Many of these
 t.surgeons," as we'll as the people who employ them. do not realize the i danger arising from fresh injuries t5 1 a tree. The tree owner should re+ aIize that prompt attendanee to fresh linjuries will largely do away vita ! the need of tree surgenry 15 or 24 years hence The tree surgenos must 1'realtze that if they make fresh in lJuTies in the living bark when treat l ing decayed portions. they are layinE the tree open to more dan gers of in I lection that will result ia further de- Il cay.
 Just as d person is subject to frfecL I ton through cuts and scratches. trees I are rendered subject to infection by having their living bark torn Not I Iwithstanding this many tree sur I Igeons use pruning hooks and climb I tree To break of small dead branch
 es a workman may use a long prunina g hook as though 1t were a. club. m do ling so the hook usually causes inliur- I to the young bark near by. Every new Ewound may furnish a new point of Eentrance for decay, even though the old dead branch may have been re- 5I Isrno owed.
 The use of climbing spurs should
 be Particularly avoided on trees iu y1clp1ties w ere there Is n contagiolae infections They simply render the treated tree all the more liable e6 sI catch the disease which is sin the fl air, =
 Vi All properly equipped firms oS com
 rnereiaI surgeons should have ladde1s ithat would reach 40 or hlore feet into d a tree. Ladders, ropes and rubbe5- tseled shoes will allow q man Co reach practically every part Reliable esti- J mates Indicate that 1t takes soIaevz naE longer (psrhaps 25 per cent on an aY- erageo to do work on a tree when s these are used instead Of clinabinz
 spurs, and this is one reason why sa
 many firms who vall1e reanunerati6s 6si
 more than reputatioh. l1se the fspslrs.
 TO BIfniD1tze UnreIiasbility. I The U. S. Department of Agrfcui-
 ture is suggesting a plan that may help put commercial tree surgery of A better basis. Owners are urged ta s. have a definite written contract vii
 the tree surgeons they employ, and < the following Is suggested as a mod for such contract:
 CD No climbing spurs shall be < used on any part of a tree.
 f29 The shoes worn by the work men shall Sl1ave soft rubber bottoms
 I39 Ordinary comneTciai oranE. shellac shall be applied to cover tlr cut edges of sapwood and 6ambftl1 7sl (which is the soft formative tfssur from which the new wood and bar orfginate1 within five mi linlltes afte the final trfx1Iai1e cut is made.
 649 All cut or shelIacked sur. r faces shall be paisated with cernzIer.
 ciaI creosote. followed by thick eqa ls) All dfseased, rotten. disooi. ! ored, water soaked, or insect-eateI < wood shall be removed fn cavity work
 and the cavity inspected by the own e.
 or his agent before it is filled, (69 Only good grade Of Bort
 land cement and cleans sharp sant
 in no weaker mixture than eo I shall be used to fill cavities ] CD The contractor shall repail 2 free of expense any defects that ma. i appear in the work within one year. v If the owner prefers to have g cav e ity filled with asphalt or other mater n Hal Instead of cement the confraekz car f be altered accordingly If 1t is de a sirabIe to substitute some other prep t aratfon for shellac, this can be done e varioazs other nodi fcations may O e made. although alterations In Nos. l k 2. and should be made with eau e ton. It may so happen that if all in e sect-eaten wood is removed, the ire < may be dangerously weakened unde s such conditions the diseased matte r can be removed to solid wood and tn e cavity fumigated. Other suggestion ' along these lines may be found la tn e pamphlet issued by the Department Q Invitation to Co-operate. The Department realizes that Chi : science is comparatively new and tha | methods in the near future may b s developed that will prove far sIperio Q q to some now in common use. It there ? fore invites correspondence sithe from individuals or firms eoncerntn e new methods of treatment and is pre- e pared to advise regarding any partie Q l11ar method so far as expertmenta
 results will permit. The cooperate. O. F of all who are interested is necessar g for this wok. Alleinterested are urge ' to write for the new bulletin. < KERMIT RoOsgvEITs