100 



Time of Cutting Timber. — Wheat-Sowing. 



Vol. V. 



Lastly, It also appears, from what has been 

 stated, that the four-shift husbandry is only 

 proper for very rich land, or in situations 

 where there is a full command of dung ; that 

 by far the greatest (juantity of land in any 

 country requires to be continued in grass two, 

 three, four or more years, according to its 

 natural poverty ; that the objection made to 

 this — that the coarse grasses will, in a few 

 years, usurp the possession of the soil — must 

 be owing to the surface-soil not being suffi- 

 ciently mixed with lime, the lime having been 

 covered too deep by the plough." — Far. Mag. 



Remark. — Bent grass and the other coarse 

 grasses are not found in limestone districts — 

 to cover the surface with lime is to create a 

 calcareous soil, upon which none but the 

 plants indigenous to such soils will propagate 

 themselves. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Time of Cutting Timber. 



Sir, — I find in the " American Farmer," 

 some valuable observations, copied from the 

 " Yankee Farmer," on the proper time of cut- 

 ting timber, which will, I think, go far to de- 

 cide the question ; they are concise but deci- 

 sive, and as the subject is of the first import- 

 ance to agriculturists generally, for I believe 

 the chief fencing will still, in this country, 

 be constructed of wood, and for many years 

 to come — to wait for seven or eight years for 

 the growth of live fences, strangely enough 

 called quicks, being so very operose to the 

 genius of the American people — I would, 

 therefore, call the attention of your readers to 

 the subject; having myself had opportunity 

 of verifying the justness of the conclusions 

 to which the writer is brought, I can, with 

 tlie greater confidence, commend them to 

 general notice. John Daley. 



" It is a fact, well known to almost every 

 farmer who uses poles for fencing, that tim- 

 ber cut in the spring or early part of summer, 

 and exposed to the weather ivilh the bark on, 

 decays much sooner than that cut in the fall: 

 the reason is evident, for when vegetation is 

 active, the bark and outer part of the wood is 

 full of sap, and a new layer or cone is form- 

 ing between the wood and the bark, from the 

 returning sap, after undergoing a change in 

 the leaves ; and this moisture causes the rapid 

 decay of timber exposed to the weather ivith 

 the bark on, so that the timber will never be- 

 come seasoned, but soon go to decay — to 

 powder-post. 



From this tendency of timber to decay, and 

 which is oflen observed, many persons have 

 supposed that tbe spring and summer are un- 

 favourable seasons for cutting timber for all 

 purposes; but experiments, many of which 



have been laid before the public, show most 

 conclusively, that the best season for cutting 

 timber is the first of the summer, when the 

 bark peels freely, provided it is so prepared 

 and used, that it will become thoroughly sea- 

 soned. 



We are informed, by a carpenter, one who 

 makes and uses plane-stocks, that timber 

 which is cut the first part of June is harder, 

 heavier, and more durable than that cut at 

 any other season, and this he has learned from 

 actual experiment : and a gentleman who has 

 been considerably concerned in ship-building, 

 says that timber cut in June is far more du- 

 rable than that cut at other seasons, as he 

 has learned, from using the same kinds of 

 timber, cut at different seasons of the year, 

 in the same ship. By experiments made by 

 Mens. Bufibn, it is found that trees which are 

 stripped of their bark in May or June, while 

 standing, and then cut dov^n the next winter 

 for timber,* are found to make the most solid, 

 heavy and strong timber, and that then, even 

 the sap of the timber (the alburnum) is good 

 for use ; and the bark stripped at that season 

 is fit for the purpose of tanning." 



To tlie Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Wheat-Sowing. 



Sir, — In the Cabinet, p. 50, vol. 5, I find 

 it recommended to delay sowing wheat on 

 fresh-ploughed land, until after it has been 

 settled by rain and become sufficiently dry to 

 work well under the harrows; and, I confess, 

 there appeared to me to be truth in the rea- 

 soning which accompanied it; but, on taking 

 up the Ohio Observer for the 21st of May, I 

 find an article on the same subject, which 

 goes point blank against the theory there 

 raised, and leaves me at a loss to know how 

 to decide. Permit me to copy that article, and 

 request some of your readers to put this and 

 that together, and give us the result of their 

 conclusions. 



" Land should not be ploughed until it will 

 fall and crumble lightly, and should be planted 

 as soon as possible after being stirred, for the 

 action of the air is to produce fermentation, 

 which is wanted to warm the seed and cause 

 it to germinate. If planting is delayed long 

 after ploughing, the fermentation has ceased 

 or greatly abated, and the plants will be 

 more tardy in coming forth, and will possess 

 less vigour. We repeat — don't plough too 

 soon : wait patiently until the soil is in pro- 

 per condition, and then plant as soon after 

 ploughing and harrowing as possible ; land 

 should not be ploughed until planting-tirne." 



J. E, 



* I much question the utility of this tedious processj 

 I have always found it sufficient to cut and strip imme- 

 diately. 



