For the sake of saving time, I will say that there's always a "fact
checker" in
every crowd (usually an academidiot), which keeps us honest and on
point,
but is kind of a pain-in-the ass.

For the record, "P" is correct on everything he stated below, except:

1. That wood itself IS dead, and is not alive (although there may be
something
living amongst it).

and...

2. That a tree without healthy tissue will keep growing. In fact, if a
tree has only
unhealthy tissue - it will not grow. It will die before it puts on
another year's worth of
growth.

I still stand firm on my opinion that using an increment borer is safe
for a tree and
will not likely cause damage, fungal or otherwise. I was trying to keep
this simple
and based it on memory and experiences (not always flawless). Thanks
for pointing
out my incorrect termnology and lack of specificifity, "P".

(what, am I publishing an article for forestry source or something?)
Geoff Kegerreis



P van Rijckevorsel wrote:

Geoff Kegerreis schreefThe
truth about finding a sugar maple age.2. Some advice below
this post has suggested that diffuse porous (wood without
vessels) wood

+ + +

Falsehood. Diffuse porous wood has vessels that are more or
less the same size throughout the growth ring.

+ + +

is not easily aged by taking a increment sample with a
increment borer. This has some validity to it. It's
sometimes tough. Personally, I have tried to get the age of
sugar maples, and it is my opinion that it makes a
significant difference what area you are in and what season
it is (because sugar maples produce lots of sap in
spring-early summer). Using an increment borer, I would
suggest that it would be best in fall to make the core and
get some increment bore dye from forestry suppliers (I'd
suggest Ben Meadows, but they don't sell it anymore)
www.forestry-suppliers.com, and dye the increment with the
chemical. This chemical will dye certain parts of the wood
(the lignin) a particular color while it does not stick to
the other parts of the wood, therefore making summer wood
(the large part of the ring) contrast with the winter wood
(the smaller part of the ring) so that the rings can easily
be seen.

+ + +

Falsehood. There is no such thing as winterwood, since a
tree does not grow in winter. There is "earlywood" and
"latewood" or "springwood" and "summerwood"

+ + +

3. Boring an increment will very likely not do damage to
the tree as long as you keep your increment borer clean
(e.g. treat it with a bleach solution to kill any
pathenogens) prior to boring the hole. If you are really
concerned about it, paint a little of this same bleach
solution along where the cambium meets the wood. Of course
the only area where fungi can attack a tree is the growing
section of the tree (the cambium), the interior wood is
dead.

+ + +

Big falsehood. Fungi can attack any part of a tree. Just
about the only place where a tree can mount a serious
defense is the cambium. The interior wood of a tree is not
necessarily dead

+ + +

There are other "stains" and such that may discolor or
decay the wood, but in general, as long as there is enough
structural integrity in the dead wood to support the tree
and the living tissue is healthy, the tree will continue to
grow (although more slowly at this size).

+ + +

The tree will continue to grow even while dying. Only when
it is totally dead will growth stop. Trees can take a lot of
abuse. Does not mean it is good for them

PvR