It is, however, generally admitted that there are several disadvantages connected with bracing trees with iron rods that pass through holes bored in the trunk or branch. However carefully this operation may be performed, there are grave risks from insect and fungoid attacks in holes that have been made in living wood, as the friction caused by the movement of the tree renders healing of the wound quite problematical. Further, the movement of an embedded iron rod is not only apt to cause friction with the wood but the strain must often be in an opposite direction to that which was intended, this increasing with the diameter of the stem or branch. Another untidy, slipshod and most objectionable method of staying a tree is by using wire as a band around the trunk. This certainly has the virtue of cheapness, but in so far as efficiency is concerned, and especially in the case of old trees, it is to be deprecated. In the repairing and strengthening of tree limbs it should consistently be borne in mind that any girdle or band that either partially or wholly constricts the growth of a branch defeats its own object by preventing the uninterrupted flow of sap and impairing the strength of the limb. With care in forming the band and a proper method of adjusting it, there is no reason why the desired object of strengthening a stem or branch may not be attained. On the other hand, a badly formed, narrow band, too tightly applied and without the requisite packing, may in a short space of time be productive of the most unsatisfactory results, particularly in the case of young and fast-growing trees. The main point is that the bands should be fixed in such a way that friction to the bark is avoided and the flow of sap uninterrupted. Unfortunately in the past this has not in all cases been carefully provided against, with the result that the bands, owing to their being too small, gradually became embedded in the wood and, by injuring the cambium and preventing the flow of sap, defeated the object for which they were intended. For fuller information on doctoring trees, the reader is referred to my book on _Tree Wounds and Diseases_. CHAPTER XVII COPPICE AND UNDERWOOD: THE MANAGEMENT OF COPPICE WOOD