North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>]

At 01:34 PM 3/12/2007, you wrote:
> I got so many replies to this, I have to say enough & many thanks.
>
> Some related off-list discussion was about using parafilm to wrap 
> damaged trunks,
> for example, if you had some mouse- or rabbit-girdling but perhaps 
> not all the way
> through all the cambium.  Wrapping w/ parafilm should help prevent 
> the remaining
> cambium from drying out & dying.  Yes, no?  Can others describe 
> their attempts at
> this?
I'd say...a reserved 'yes' - but you've gotta apply it pretty rapidly 
- like within minutes of the time you accidentally wham into the tree 
with the lawnmower(D@mn!) and knock that chunk of bark off.
Or, my preference, thanks to Doc Lisenby and an old friend in Iowa, 
is to liberally apply a thick 'poultice' of fresh cow manure - it 
forms a nice crust on the outside, but stays moist for a considerable 
time underneath, and pH/bacterial populations seem to inhibit fungal growth.
But, as most folks on the list probably don't have ready access to 
fresh cow manure, Parafilm is probably the next best thing.
The Iowa friend's grandfather sealed all his grafts with a liberal 
slathering of cow manure, after wrapping with cotton string.

Lucky