Apple Tree questions

Zootal · 2008-06-13T03:21:38+00:00

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 :-) 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.