FARMING TOOLS. 299 



we have numerous examples of the timber cut within this 

 period, which has exhibited a durability twice or three times 

 as great as that cut in winter, when placed under precisely 

 the same circumstances. After it is felled, it should at once 

 be peeled, drawn from the woods, and elevated from the 

 ground to facilitate drying ; and if it is intended to be used 

 under cover, the sooner it is put there the better. Wood 

 designed for fuel, will spend much better .when cut within 

 the same periods, and immediately housed ; but as this is 

 generally inconvenient, from the labor of the farm being then 

 required for the harvesting of the crops, it may be more 

 economical to cut it whenever there is most leisure. 



Preservation of timber. Various preparations of late 

 years, have been tried for the more effeQtual preservation of 

 timber, which have proved quite successful, but the expense 

 precludes their adoption for general purposes. These are 

 kyanizing, or the use of carburetted azote (the base of prus- 

 sic acid) ; a solution of common salt ; the use of corrosive 

 sublimate, (a bi-chloride of mercury) ; pyrolignite of iron, 

 formed from iron dissolved in pyroligneous acid, which is 

 produced from the distillation of wood, or from the condensed 

 vapor that escapes from wood fuel while Burning, and which 

 may be obtained in large quantities from a coal pit where 

 charcoal is made. These will be absorbed by the sap pores 

 and universally disseminated through the body of the tree, 

 by sawing or cutting the trunk partially off while erect, and 

 applying the solution to its base ; or it may be cut down, 

 leaving a part of the leafy branches above the point of satu- 

 ration, and apply the solution to the butt end. The leaves 

 will continue to sustain the natural flow of the sap, which 

 is both upward and downward, by the different conduits or 

 sap vessels, thus distributing the artificial solution through- 

 out the trunk. 



Beautiful'tints are given to timber which is used for cabi- 

 net work, by saturating it with various coloring matters. 

 Although the expense of these preparations may prevent their 

 use for large, cheap structures, yet for all the lighter imple- 

 ments such as wagons, plows, and tools generally, where the 

 cost of the wood is inconsiderable in comparison with that 

 of making, it would be economy to use such timber only as 

 will give the longest duration, though its first price may be 

 ten-fold that of the more perishable material. 



FARMING TOOLS. 



These should form an important item of the farmer's at- 



