Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1921-02-03

Tree surgery is comparatively sim
pie and inexpensive and most persons
can, with a little preliminary practice,
undertake the simpler types Of tree
repair work that will prove immense
ly profitable in saving fine trees. A
few fundamental principles must be
observed to secure permanently good
results.
(1) Remove the dead, decayed, dis
eased or injured wood or bark. When
ton a limb this can often be done best
by removing the entire limb; on a
large limb or on the trunk it may
mean at times digging out the decayed
matter so that a cavity is formed.
(2) Sterilize all cut surfaces.
(3) Waterproof all cut surfaces.
az Leave the work in the most ia
vorable condition for rapid healing;
this will often mean filling or cover
ing deep cavities.
(5) Watch the work from year to
year for defects and if any appear at
tend to them Immediately.
Removing Large Limbs.
A large limb rarely should be re-
moved by a single saw cut from the
upper side, as this usually strips the
bark and wood as it falls. A prelim-
mary cut should be made from the I'M
der side, beyond the point for the
final cut; and a second cut on the up
per side an inch or more beyond the
first one. Then cut the stub close to
the trunk. A coat of good shellac
should be applied yer the entire area
Of the bark, outer sapwood, and the
cambium Immediately,
I, Creosote should be applied to the
rest Of the exposed wood not already
covered by the shellac as a protec-
ton, and the entire shellacked and
creosoted surface should be finally wa
terproofed with thick coal tar or as
phalt. Grating wax, particularly the
thick liquid alcoholic kind, is excel
lent for w~aterproofing small surfaces.
Another good method of treating the
scars is to char the surface with a
gasoline or alcohol blast torch and
then quickly cover the hot surface
with heavy tar, pitch, or hot asphalt.
The treated surfaces should be
watched from year to year and recoat-
ed as necessary to preserve the wa
terproofing.
In removing small branches and
twigs the cut should be made as close
to the supporting branch as possible,
so as to leave no projecting stub. The
pruning wound must be steriliZed and
wsiter-proofed. For very small wounds
si,ellac is handy.
When a wound has been allowed to
remain untreated for a year or more,
disappointing organisms are almost
certain to have started an area Of de-.
cay and insect activity behind the ex-
posed surface. Such regions gen
orally require excavation of decayed
and diseased wood and sterilizing and
waterprooting of the cut surfaces.
The tools ordinarily required are
two outside-ground socket-handled
gouges Gone three-fourths of an inch
and the other IL inches), a knife,
mallet or hammer, and an oil
stone. Only keen edges should be
used on the bark or near the cam
blum.
Remove Diseased Wood.
Remove all the diseased or insect
eaten or water-sOaked wood. In dis
eased areas Of many years standing
there may be only a thin she'll of
healthy wood around the cavity, in
which case the tree must be braced
or guyed. and it is often better re-
moved and replaced by a healthy one.
Do not leave 4 cavity so it will re-
tain water. IN shaping a cavity that
is to be filled With cement, ETC., have
the sides undercut, if possible, so rs
to hold the filing more firmly in place.
Inrolled bark at the edges ofathe open
ing should be cut away after the de-
cayed and diseased matter has been
completely e%xcavated and the edges of
the sapwood and bark adjoining the
cambium shellacked. The remainder
of the cavity also must be sterilized.
Creosote is recommended. Over this
a heavy waterproof covering should
be applied.
Filling the cavity is of much less i'm
portance. Often q cavity is better left
untitled. A cavity must be watched
from year to year and any tendency
of the waterproofng to crack, split,
or blister should Immediately be coun-
teracted by %repatnting.
Where sheet-metal covering is used
there should be n narrow half-inch
ledge of bare wood around the edge
to which the margin of the metal can
be tackled. The cavity must be thor
ouehly steri!lzed and waterproofed,