When good tillage is given to such trees, they may not be able to overcome the rigidity of the old bark, and, therefore, do not respond to the treatment. Sometimes the thinner-barked parts may outgrow in diameter the trunk or the old branches below them. The remedy is to release the tension. This may be done either by softening the bark (by washes of soap or lye), or by separating it. The latter is done by slitting the bark-bound part (in spring), thrusting the point of a knife through the bark to the wood and then drawing the blade down the entire length of the bark-bound part. The slit is scarcely discernible at first, but it opens with the growth of the tree, filling up with new tissue beneath. Let the pupil consider the ridges which he now and then finds on trees, and determine whether they have any significance—whether the tree has ever been released or injured by natural agencies.
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Fig. 63.—Proper Cutting of a Branch. The wound will soon be "healed."
The Tissue covers the Wounds and "heals" them.—This is seen in Fig. 63, in which a ring of tissue rolls out over the wound. This ring of healing tissue forms most rapidly and uniformly when the wound is smooth and regular. Observe the healing on broken and splintered limbs; also the difference in rapidity of healing between wounds on strong and weak limbs. There is difference in the rapidity of the healing process in different kinds of trees. Compare the apple tree and the peach. This tissue may in
