314 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



APRIL, II, 183S. 



one liiiiidreci years old, while that next the hark is 

 only one year old. It has been proved by many 

 experiments that the timber at the heart, in a 

 thriving tree, is the hardiest, heaviest, and strong- 

 est ; and that its strength diininislies in propoition 

 to its distanre from the cenire ; and a considcralile 

 part, nearest to the hark, is too young, and too full 

 of juices, to be fit for use in ship-huilding. This 

 part, whieh is called tlie sap, varies in thickness, 

 according to the kind of wood, the quickness of 

 iis growth, the ago of the tree, and the naUire of 

 the soil and climate in which it grows. In gen- 

 eral, the more rapidly b tree grows, the more 

 heart is found in the tindier, and the better it is 

 for use. The texture of the wood is closer, there 

 are fewer knots, and a less nuitdier of those divis 

 ions which separate the annual circles, and which 

 are more open and porous than the other parts of 

 the wood. All treus have a certain age, at which 

 they are the most tough, strong, and ela.-tic, and 

 if felled at this age they will be the most durable. 

 This age, however, varies many years, according 

 to the soil and tetnperature of the situation in which 

 they grow. Great care, therefore, should he observed 

 in instituting experiments of the last named charac- 

 ter in selecting the proper nuiterials, and paying a 

 particular regard to all the foregoingcircumstances. 

 The season [)roper for felling trees is another 

 object of the first iiriportance ; and if we properly 

 consiiler the component parts, nature, texture, 

 growth, and strength of limber generally, it will lie 

 obvious that the winter season is the most suitable 

 time to perform that operation ; yet it is by no 

 means so material for those trees which never 

 shed their leaves, as the live oak, and in which tie 

 sap is in motion to a certain degree tlnoughout 

 the year. 



Ky many experiments, particularly described by 

 Buflbn, it appears that the trunks or bodies of trees 

 when stripped of their hark in the spring, and hfi 

 standing naked during three consecutive sum- 

 mers, exposed to the sun and winds, are so dried 

 and hardened, that the sappy part heoonrt'S almost 

 as strong as the rest of the limber, and stronger 

 than the heart of other trees which have not been 

 exposed in this manner ; and the whole of the 

 titidjei; is stronger, heavier, harder, and conse- 

 quently more durable. If the above assertion he 

 true, it woidd no longer be necessary, if this meth- 

 od were practised, to cut oH'the sap as is usitally 

 done in ship building, but the whole of the tree 

 might be userl as tindjcr, and one of forty years' 

 growth would probably serve all the purposes for 

 which one of sixty years is now required ; and 

 this practice would have the double advantage of 

 increasing the quantity, as vvell as the strength and 

 solidity, of the timber. 



AnQther object which slioidd claim attention, is 

 the investigation of a species of decay in the live 

 oak, known by the name of lohite rot. It can only 

 be distinguished by an experienced eye before the 

 tree is barked, and may be known by the occur- 

 rence of round syots about an inch and a half in 

 diameter, on the outside of the rmrk; through 

 which, at these |K)ints, a hard stick or spike inay 

 be easily <lriven several inches. 'J'his defect gen- 

 erally follows the heart up or down the trunk of 

 the tree, which renders the tind)er utterly useless. 

 So deceptive are these spots in the live oak, to 

 persons unacquainted with them, that a -vast deal 

 of timber is cut and afterwards abandoned. One 

 would suppose, from the great number of trees of 

 this deecription strewn about the woods in Flori- 



da, that there is a nuich greater quantity of oak in 

 that country than there really is. It is the opinion 

 of conqietent judges, that there is not generally 

 more than one fourth the quantity of live oak tindier 

 suitable for ship building, in the United St.ites,as 

 usually has been reported to be. It would be a 

 useful and interesting object of investigation, to 

 search into the causes of thiskiv.d of decay, and 

 leatn whether it proceeds from the work of an in- 

 sect, or whether the trees thus afTiicted are not 

 passing into that state .which always precedes their 

 natural dissolution. 



One more object undei this liead, which would 

 be of the highest importance, is to determine by 

 actual experiment the most effectual and ec^onomi- 

 eal means of preventing the dry rot. Vaiious 

 preparation* ofdifTerent salts and metallic solutions 

 have been npplierl, and with good success, in tim- 

 ber from trees possessing a considerable portion 

 of tanning and gallic acid, as they absorb the met- 

 als, particularly iron, and obtain very nearly a 

 complete antidote against the disease. A very 

 valuable discovery of this kind was made in Eng- 

 land some years since, in preserving timber from 

 the dry rut by saturating it with a solution of cor- 

 rosive sublimate. Some timber was (irepared by 

 this process, and laid in the " rotten pit " of the 

 Woolwich navy yard, with other [lieces unprepar- 

 ed. At the end of three years, both were with- 

 drawn, and the whole of the prepared timber was 

 perfectly sound, while the imprepared was coiii- 

 |)letely rotten. I am informed, frcrni good author- 

 ity, that a similar expeiiment is in progress at the 

 navy yard at Charlestown. 15ut it seems to me 

 that, under the existing prices of corrosive subli- 

 mate, this mode of preserving timber never can be 

 ren.iered economical. The proportions of the in- 

 gredients recommended by the inventor, is one 

 pound of corrosive sublimate to five gallons of 

 water, an<l it has been found by experiment, that 

 a cubic foot of oak timber absorbs three pints of 

 the liquid, which will usually require three weeks. 

 Admitting the price of the corrosive sublimate to 

 be one dollar per pound, the cost of materials for 

 saturating each cubic foot will be eight cents, an 

 expense far exceeding that of a solution of iron, or 

 many other ingredients, which have been success- 

 fully employed in the preservation of timber. 



4. To note the distinction of those kinds of 

 wood preferably employed in enclosing cultivated 

 fields, and such as are the most useful in the dif- 

 ferent kinds of construction in the arts, and for 

 fuel ; to distinguish the different species of bark 

 used in tanning leather, whether proceeding from 

 trees annually shedding thefr leaves, or Ihim ever- 

 greens, as well as the comparative importance of 

 each kind, as to quality aiul value ; to describe 

 those trees, the timber of which is an object of 

 commercial exchange with the middle, northern, 

 southern, and western States, and is exported to 

 the West Imlies, and elsewhere ; and to note those 

 tracts of country in which this timber abounds, and 

 the sea-ports to which it is carried for exporta- 

 tion. 



It would be interesting, in travelling from one 

 section of the country to another, to take exact notes 

 of the successive disappearance of diHerenl spe- 

 cies of trees, and the appearance of new ones; the 

 cause of which may be attril)Uted either to the 

 teniperatiire apd liuinidity of the climate, or to the 

 nature of the soil ; and to distinguish the siicces- 

 sive growths of trees in various parts of the coun- 

 try, and the length of time which usually trans-' 



pires before they spring up, alter the clearing o 

 primeval forests. 



5. The last object 1 would present for consid 



eralion, and which may be deemed of the highes 



national consequence of them all, is to impres: 



the great body of agriculturists of onr republii 



with the importance and pecuniary advantage 



that would result to them and to their successors 



from the preservation of different species of tiin 



l)«r, of which ihey should encourage the growth 



and, on the contrary, to e.xtermijiate those whic 



ought to be destroyed. Although planting an 



preserving trees are the first things that proprieloi 



should think of, when they come in possession ( 



their estates, it frequently happens, that no branc 



of husbandry is so much neglected ; and, moi 



probably, few are more regretted. No branch < 



agriculture claims a stronger degree of public a 



tention than the planting of tind)er, which, in th 



present state of our country, would form the tri 



basis of our national prosperity. The navy bein 



the foundation of onr strength, it naturally becomi 



interwoven with the texture of every patriot! 



mind. Tfioiigh in times of peace a great number' 



ships of war may not be deemed necessary, yet tl 



old adage is true: " He who has his sword by h 



side, seldom wants to use it." In times of peac 



then, let us prepare for war, and set about plaiitit 



trees; for, if our eager desire to enjoy the preset 



and our growing indifference for posterity, still j 



on increasing, and the general havoc aiul devast 



tion among our timber trees are continued, 



is to be feared that this highly favor«d count 



will have its noble forests, in which its natior 



strength so much consists, sfteedily exhauste 



without any reasonable prospect of tfieir being i 



stored. Great liritain, France, Norway, Swedf 



and Russia, owe their present naval forces to t 



attention of their respective governmsnts, in tim 



past, to the culture and preservation of tind)' 



And why should not our government takcsimil 



measures to provi(fc a permanent sup|)ly for o 



From personal observation, I have authority 

 stating, that there is an ahundanco of large tiirdi' 

 suitable for navdl purposes, situated in the imni 

 diate vicinity of water carriage, both on our pub 

 lands in Florida, and various other places in t 

 Union, which lies in the power ofour government 

 protect, and thereby render it highly improbal 

 that we should need any timber fiom other sourt 

 for a century to come. Some measures, I belie' 

 have been taken by our government, for seve 

 years past, in protecting the live oak along t 

 coast of Florida and the southern States; b 

 from some cause or other, the laws thereby eiui 

 ed liave not been enfoiced with that reasoiui 

 warmth and \igor they ought to be, or that i 

 peiudties therein inflicted are not, by any mea 

 adecpiate to the of?ence. 



On the most attentive consideration of the si 

 ject, and from the most prevailing opinion of p 

 sons conversant in the management of woo( 

 have come to the conclusion, that the forests j I 

 waste lauds in Florida alone, may be made cr.;' 

 ble of producing a regular successive stipplyl 

 tind)er, sufKcitnt for the continuance of our nit 

 for ages. The soil of that country, idong the bH 

 board, is, liy nature, the most friendly to the gro\ I 

 of the live oak ; an acre of which, on the authi' 

 ily of Col. White, will produce twenty trees,> 

 fifty years after planting, suitable for ship huildifi 

 worth $90 each ; and the expense of superinti 



