SH PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



practised in Poland for the ostensible purpose of hardening the soft wood ; but also 

 accompanied by a deep incision made for the purpose of extracting tar ; a practice ob- 

 viously injurious to the timber, and therefore generally in these countries kept out of 

 view. When trees stand close together, a very obvious preparation to felling is light- 

 ening the tops of such branches as would do injury in falling to the trees that are to be 

 left, or to other adjoining objects. 



3756. The season of felling is commonly winter, for timber not to be disbarked; 

 but some for the resinous tribe recommend summer as being the season in which it is 

 generally felled in the north of Europe and in the Alps. But the summer season is there 

 adopted from necessity, as in winter the woods are so filled up with snow that felling 

 is hardly practicable. As the timber of these countries is generally squared for the 

 market ; the soft wood is chiefly removed, so that the season of felling does not seem 

 to them to be of much consequence. Besides, the timber is never so full of sap in sum- 

 mer as it is in spring and autumn, and therefore, next to mid- winter, midsummer may 

 be the next best time for felling all kinds of timber-trees. Where the trees are dis- 

 barked at the base a year or more before felling, the softwood will be partially hardened ; 

 but this practice is by no means general in the north, 



3757. JCnowleSy in a recent work on preserving the British navy, and on dry rot.. &c. after 

 collecting the opinions of all the ancient and modern authors who have written on felling 

 timber, concludes, that the common notion that trees felled in winter contain less of sap 

 or of the vegetable juices than those cut down at any other season of the year, is not true ; 

 and that the method of barking standing trees in spring, and not felling them till the 

 succeeding winter, has not in any way realised the expectations formed of the plan. 

 After describing all the different modes that have been adopted for seasoning timber, he 

 concludes, that the best mode of seasoning is to " keep it in air, neither very dry nor very 

 moist ; and to protect it from the sun and rain by a roof raised sufficiently high over it so 

 as to prevent by this and other means, a rapid rush of air." {Inquiry into the Means 

 of preserving the British Navy from Dry Rot, ^c. by Knowlesy Sec. to the Com. of 

 Surveyors, chap, iii.) 



3758. The operation of felling is performed either by digging an excavation round the 

 stem, and cutting the roots at two or three feet distance from it, or by cutting over the 

 stem at the surface. By the former mode the root is obtained for use, and the ground 

 more effectually cleared and prepared for the roots of other adjoining trees, or whatever 

 crop is to follow. Where the tree is intended to stole, which can very seldom be advis- 

 able in the case of cutting full-grown timber, or where there is some nicety in taking it 

 down so as not to injure other trees or adjoining objects, it is cut or sawn over, and the 

 root, if to be removed, dug out afterwards. " In cutting large trees, in order to make 

 the tree fall the way required, enter the cross-cut saw on that side of the tree it is intended 

 to fall, and cut it about a third part through ; then enter the saw at the other side, and 

 when it is cut so far as to admit a wedge, place the wedge exactly opposite the way you 

 want the tree to fall, and keep driving it slowly till the tree is nearly cut through." 

 {Monteith.) The tree being felled, is next divested of its branches, which are sorted 

 into fence-wood, fuel, ton-wood, &c., according to the kind of tree ; and the trunk 

 is generally preserved as entire as possible for the purchaser. Sometimes it is cut in 

 two, and the root-cut, or but-end, being the most valuable, sold for one class of pur- 

 poses at a higher price, and the top^cuts for others somewhat lower. 



3759. The roots of trees are the last product we shall mention. These should, in 

 almost every case, be effectually eradicated ; to aid in which, in the case of very large 

 roots, splitting by wedges, refting by gunpowder, tearing up by the hydrostatic 



press, or by a common lever and triangle (Jig. 461.), may be resorted to. Some 

 compact ash or oak roots are occasion- 

 ally in demand by smiths, leather- 

 cutters, and others ; but in general 

 roots should be reduced to pieces not 

 exceeding three feet long, and six 

 inches in diameter, and put up in 

 stacks not less than three feet every 

 fway, but commonly containing two 

 cubic yards. These, when dry, are 

 sold for fuel, or reduced to charcoal 

 on the spot. In eradicating and stack- 

 ing up coppice- woods, it is common to allow a certain sum per stack, and something 

 for every acre of ground cleared ; if there are no trees to bark, allowances are also 

 made for the poles, faggots, &c. so that no part of the operation is performed by day- 

 work. 



3760. The usual method of charring wood is as follows : The wood being col- 

 lected near the place intended for the operation, and cut into billets, generally about 



