e, within three or four years after its
death, is still sound and may be used for telephone and telegraph
poles, posts, railroad ties, lumber and firewood.

Spraying for fungous diseases: Where a fungous disease is attacking the
leaves, fruit, or twigs, spraying with Bordeaux mixture may prove
effective. The application of Bordeaux mixture is deterrent rather
than remedial, and should therefore be made immediately before the
disease appears. The nature of the disease and the time of treatment
can be determined without cost, by submitting specimens of affected
portions of the plant for analysis and advice to the State
Agricultural Experiment Station or to the United States Department
of Agriculture.

Bordeaux mixture, the standard fungicide material, consists of a
solution of 6 pounds of copper sulphate (blue vitriol) with 4 pounds
of slaked lime in 50 gallons of water. It may be purchased in
prepared form in the open market, and when properly made, has a
brilliant sky-blue color. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture should be
done in the fall, early spring, or early summer, but never during
the period when the trees are in bloom.

STUDY III. PRUNING TREES

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES

Trees are very much like human beings in their requirements, mode of
life and diseases, and the general principles applicable to the care of
one are equally important to the intelligent treatment of the other. The
removal of limbs from trees, as well as from human beings, must be done
sparingly and judiciously. Wounds, in both trees and human beings, must
be disinfected and dressed to keep out all fungus or disease germs.
Fungous growths of trees are similar to human cancers, both in the
manner of their development and the surgical treatment which they
require. Improper pruning will invite fungi and insects to the tree,
hence the importance of a knowledge of fundamental principles in this
branch of tree care.

[Illustration: FIG. 112.--A Tree Pruned Improperly and too Severely.]

Time: Too much pruning at one time should never be practiced (Fig. 112),
and no branch should be removed from a tree without good reason for
so doing. Dead and broken branches should be removed as soon as
observed, regardless of any special pruning season, because they are
dangerous, unsightly and carry insects and disease into the heart of
the tree. But all other pruning, w