NO. 13. 



THE farmers' CABINKT. 



205 



of fuel for one year's consumption. Wood 

 may be procured witli one half the labor that 

 will be necessary after deep snows ; and one 

 day well employed now will save one or 

 more in the busy season of summer. 



Wood that is cut in the spring, when the 

 sap has ascended, is wortii much less for pres- 

 ent use, or for seasoned wood, than that which 

 is felled in winter when the sap is down. If 

 used green it requires more heat to dissi- 

 pate the extra moisture before it will burn ; 

 and it is likely to become partially decayed in 

 seasoning, unless more pains are taken to 

 split it fine, c.vposc it to the sun or shelter it 

 from rains. 



See that your wheels, carts, harrows, 

 ploughs and other implements, are housed, if 

 they have been carelessly neglected until 

 now. It is of great importance that these 

 things should be secured, as they often suffer 

 more from exposure than from use — they fre- 

 quently decay before they are half worn. A 

 penny saved is two pence clear, says Frank- 

 lin. A farmer sometimes spends several days 

 in making a good hay cart, which might be 

 housed most of the time, and would last many 

 years; and it would be much lighter than one 

 imade of green timber. But it is left where 

 jit was last used, exposed not only to the 

 |j weather but to the cattle, which destroy it in 

 ! the course of the winter. A day or more 

 must be spent in summer to repair this loss, 

 for he that has not sufficient foresight to take 

 care of his implements will never make or 

 repair them till they are needed. This is 

 but a specimen of the trouble and expense 

 that fall to the lot of the careless and impro- 

 vident for the want of good management. 

 Many such trifles amount to something of con- 

 sequence in the course of a year. No wonder 

 hat such work hard, are always in a hurry, 

 ind yet find that their work drives them, and 

 :hat time keeps so far ahead that they labor 

 n vain to overtake him. — Yankee Farmer. 



From the Virginia Farmer's Register. 



l9n the proper luanagemciit of Posts Avitli 

 reference to tUcir diiraliility. 



Perhaps there is no subject connected with 



Igriculture, on which a greater diversity of 



[pinion prevails than the question, whether 



Vith reference to their durability, posts should 



le put in the ground green or seasoned 1 



^hen I first settled, I took considerable pains 



inform myself on this point, by consultation 



mh those whose experience should consti- 



ate tliem proper fountains of information. 



["he diversity to which I have alluded, im- 



lired greatly the acquisition of decisive re- 



Jts. Mr. Thomas Thweatt, of Dinwiddle, 



(a gentleman of great judgment and observa- 

 tion on all agricultural subjects,) related to 

 me a circumstance which contributed much 

 towards the attainment of my object. He 

 stated, (if my memory he correct,) that in the 

 erection of his garden — a numijcr of posts as 

 he supposed, were prepared and suficred to 

 remain until they were thoroughly seasoned. 

 Its completion, however, required one in ad- 

 dition, which was taken from an adjacent tree, 

 and immediately put in the ground. Seven- 

 teen years Jiad elapsed, and every post had 

 rotted down except that one, which remained 

 sound. In the progress of my investigation 

 another instance was related in which an en- 

 tire side of a garden exhibiting the same re- 

 sults. My own limited experience furnishes 

 an incident worthy of being mentioned. Mj; 

 garden enclosure was erected of posts while 

 green. Several pieces remained exposed un- 

 til they were completely seasoned. Out o; 

 these a horserack was constructed, which was 

 entirely rotted down, while every post in the 

 garden remains firm. From these facts I de- 

 dace the belief, that a post planted wher 

 green will last longer than one previous!} 

 seasoned ; and for the reason, that the opera- 

 tion of seasoning produces cracks in the tim 

 ber, which admitting the moisture from the 

 ground, cause its decay. I recollect to have 

 read the account of p.n experiment, proving 

 that the inversion of posts, from the directior 

 in which they grew, operated beneficially 

 Two gate posts were hewn from the same 

 tree — one was planted in the manner in whici 

 it grew, the other inverted. The former rot 

 ted while the latter was sound. It was ac 

 counted for in this way — that nature hat 

 formed valves for the ascension of the sap 

 which allowed the moisture from the groun( 

 to penetrate through the same channel ; bu 

 that the inversion of these valves, interposet 

 a barrier to its admission. This theory cor 

 roborates the idea previously expressed, tha 

 the moisture of the ground, alternately pene 

 trating within the timber and in drouths 

 measurably receding, causes its decay.— 

 Whether the posts should be cut while th( 

 sap is up or down, I am unable to determine 

 A writer insomeof the numbers of the Ame 

 rican Farmer, states that oak timber shouh 

 be cut while the sap is up, because it is glu 

 tinousand forms a cement, or substance vvhicl 

 acts as a preservative. 



I have ventured to express these hasty an( 

 imperfect reflections, with the hope that, al 

 though they may not impart any useful infbr 

 mation, they may elicit some from others.— 

 These are controverted subjects, in whici 

 every person who erects a gate or encloses i 

 garden is deeply interested — and their fur 

 ther discussion will be valuable, at least to 



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