Giving a sucker an even break

I planned to graft on the sucker that is in the foreground of this picture, the one that sprouts up from the base of the tree.

The rabbits girdled it during our recent deep snow when other food was not available.

It is possible to save suckers if the bark is not chewed back to bare wood.  Typically, the corky outer bark and some of the inner bark has been chewed away but there are still continuous runs of the delicate cambium, the growing part.

That cambium is vulnerable to drying out and newsprint is a reasonable substitute for the corky outer bark.  It breaths even as it protects from dehydration and further rabbit damage.

I have a better than 50% chance of saving this sucker.