44 



Seasoning of Wood. — ProfiiahJe Fai-ming. 



Vol. VI. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Seasoning of Wood. 



Mr. Editor,—! liave felt much interest in 

 the papers which have appeared in the Cabi- 

 net on the most proper time for cutting tim- 

 ber, and the mode of seasoning it by means 

 of fire, by which the sap is extracted, leav- 

 ing nothing to ferment and become food for 

 worms; and can readily believe that there is 

 truth in the view which is there taken. All 

 admit that if the sap could be extracted, the 

 timber would be rendered exceedingly more 

 durable, and it would appear that to cut it 

 while the sap is flowing and submit it to the 

 action of fire, is an effectual way of accom- 

 plishing the end, as well as a cheap and easy 

 mode of performing the operation. In the 

 number of the Cabinet for May, we were 

 promised an account of experiments about to 

 be made on this subject; we should be glad 

 to become acquainted with the results. In 

 the meantime, there is a very interesting 

 chapter in "Tredgold's Elementary Princi- 

 ples of Carpentry," on the seasoning of tim- 

 ber, which would, it is thought, be valuable, 

 were you to lay it before your readers; it is 

 therefore copied and ofTered to your accept- 

 ance. 



" Langton's method of Seasoning Timher 

 by the direct extraction of the sap. — As green 

 wood consists of woody fibre saturated with 

 the fluid called the natural sap of the tree, it 

 is obvious that a method of separating this 

 sap without injury to the woody fibre, is one 

 of the most important discoveries that has 

 been made in tlie management of timber. 

 From three to five years is, in the usual me- 

 thod, necessary to render green wood fit for 

 use; and for so long, not only is the interest 

 of the capital employed to purchase it lost to 

 the consumer, but also the manufacturer must 

 have a larger capital to conduct his business 

 than with a quicker mode of drying. In ship- 

 building, the disadvantages of the slow pro- 

 gress of seasoning by the natural air of the 

 atmosphere are most evident. When green 

 wood is placed in the receiver of an air-pump, 

 as the air is exhausted by the pump, the sap, 

 being no longer confined by the atmospheric 

 pressure, separates from the wood ; and if 

 heat be applied so as to convert this sap into 

 vapour, as fast as it arrives at the surface of 

 the wood, and the means of condensing the 

 vapour be provided, the whole of the sap will 

 soon bo extracted from the wood ; ami this is 

 the nature of Mr. Langton's process. In prac- 

 tice he employs upriglit cylinders of iron to 

 contain the wood, into which the pieces are 

 lowered by a crane, and raised again when 

 the operation is finished. Steam is used to 

 produce a partial vacuum in the cylinders 

 afer the wood is in and the covers closed, 



and heat is applied by means of a water bath 

 surrounding the cylinders. The vapour of 

 the sap is conveyed away and condensed by 

 another apparatus. The wood seasoned in 

 this manner rather exceeds the usual density 

 of the same kind equally dry, and loses about 

 the same weight as in seasoning by the com- 

 mon process, with somewhat more shrinkage, 

 'i'he time when the process is over is easily 

 known by the liquid ceasing to collect in tho 

 condensing part of the apparatus ; and in re- 

 gard to expense, it appears that to season, or 

 rather to extract the whole of the sap from 

 green wood, will require from 8 to 12 weeks; 

 the timber so prepared, being fit for any pur- 

 pose, as it is not that degree of dryness called 

 seasoning, but the whole of the sap is ex- 

 tracted." 



In regard to the time required to season, 

 much must depend on the size of the timber 

 submitted to the operation. Dr. Watson found 

 that a small piece of a large ash cut from the 

 middle of the tree after it had been felled six 

 weeks, lost, merely by exposure to the at- 

 mosphere, nearly one-fifth part of its weight 

 in seven days ; and on a subsequent trial, after 

 five months, it had lost no more of its weight, 

 showing that it had become perfectly dry in 

 the short space of seven days. A cubic foot 

 of oak which, fifteen days after felling 

 weighed 58.74 lbs., weighed, after 3 months' 

 exposure, 56.18 lbs., — the same, when per- 

 fectly dry, weighed 39.27. J. D. 



Profitable Farming. 



The question is often asked, How can farm- 

 ins be made profitable i I answer, by liberal 

 manuring, deep and thorough ploughing, and 

 clean culture. I will venture to affirm, with- 

 out fear of contradiction, that no instvince can 

 be cited, where a farmer who has manured 

 his grounds highly, made a judicious use of 

 the plough, and cultivated with care, has fail- 

 ed to receive an ample remuneration for the 

 amount invested ; nay more, that he has not 

 received a greater advance upon his outlay, 

 than the average profit derived from any other 

 business. One great difficulty is, that most 

 farmers seem not to be aware of the fact, that 

 the greater the outlay, to a reasonable extent, 

 when skilfully applied, the greater will be 

 the profit: they therefore manure sparingly, 

 plough shallow, and the consequence is, get 

 poorly paid for their labour. This has raised 

 a prejudice and given a disrelish to the busi- 

 ness of firming, especially among those who 

 are in the habit and are desirous of realizing 

 something more from their occupation than a 

 naked return of the amount expended. 



The farmer who is so sparing of his ma- 

 nure that he can get but thirty bushels of 

 corn from an acre, gets barely enough to pay 

 him for the expense of cultivation, and in ad- 



