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annotation in another hand copied by EHE 11/27/1966 /annotation Osawatomie, May 2, 1856. Dear Father

 We received yours of Apr. 10th and 17th this week. Were very glad to hear that Robert was getting better. Hope he will continue to improve and get his health better. Hope he will continue to improve and get his health better than ever. I think it would be well worth while to try to save as many trees as you can in the way you suggest. It would be a great misfortune to lose that nice young orchard. The sap goes up into the tree from the roots in the outer wood (mainly). It passes into the leaves and is there prepared for supporting and feeding the tree as the blood that passes through the lungs for nourishing the animal body. It there returns between the bark and the wood depositing new wood, gradually losing its strength till it gets back to the root, receives a fresh supply, and prepares to go a new round. What you want to do then for your trees to save them is to provide for the safe passage of this upward and downward current of sap. This may be done by connecting the upper with the lower bark by a vigorous twig of last years growth. But I think it would be much more effectual if you should cover the surface that is eaten off with grafting composition. This would prevent it from drying and the sap might still go up through the old wood. The following is recommended as a good grafting composition: to 2 pounds of rosin ad 1 1/4 lb of beeswax and 3/4 lb of tallow. Russel Fuller had some trees girdled by mice and he succeeded in getting them to live through most of one summer by simply covering the exposed part with grafting composition. If the trees do not live in this way, I think I should saw them off

[[transcriber's note: EHE in the annotation at top is probably Edward Holden Everett, one of the grandsons of John who wrote the letter, he was alive in 1966 and an avid genealogist. The handwriting of the annotation looks like that of Roberts Everett, Edward's older brother.]]