I have a large old apple tree in my back yard. I'm guessing it's ~100 years
old based on the neighborhood and the number of growth rings on a smaller
tree near it that I had to cut down a few years ago. Several years ago,
someone butchered it - they cut all of the main branches back to about 15
feet from the trunk. Their reason - they didn't like how it sprawled all
over. I don't know how badly this shocked the tree. I've been gently pruning
it every year, trying to remove the vertical suckers and open up the crown,
with a fairly good rate of sucess. This year is it loaded with hundreds of
apples. So, anyhow, my questions

1) I noticed this hole on one of the branches. The opening is a bit more
then in inch in diameter, and you can see wood shavings that have fallen out
of the hole. What would make a hole like this in a tree? I can't see
anything in the hole, and don't know how deep it goes - I don't really want
to stick my fingers in it :-)

http://zootal.no-ip.info/stuff/2008/...s/DSCF2788.JPG
http://zootal.no-ip.info/stuff/2008/...s/DSCF2789.JPG

2) See how the bark is peeling? The top of the branch is dried and
splitting. Is this branch dying, and should I take any action at this time,
like cut it off or try to save it? The other branches do not exhibit this
behavior.

http://zootal.no-ip.info/stuff/2008/...s/DSCF2794.JPG
http://zootal.no-ip.info/stuff/2008/...s/DSCF2790.JPG
http://zootal.no-ip.info/stuff/2008/...s/DSCF2792.JPG
http://zootal.no-ip.info/stuff/2008/...s/DSCF2791.JPG