84 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



rUK Tilt NEW tNCLANU JT^ilUtl'.. 



rnol'ER.SKASOV FOR CUTTINO Tl.MHER. 



Mr KiiiTori — I rend with niiicfi interest an Jir- 

 tirle ill tlie New Kii^liind Former of August lltli, 

 written Inii L'eiilluinaii oCLolig Island, who styles 

 liiinsL'lf" A Farmer," wherein he makes this liighly 

 tntercsliii',' iii(|uiry — " .?/ what season of the year 

 thould ship limber he cut to insure the longest dura- 

 biltli/'?" Wiiliiiiit uttoinpting to give a ilefmite 

 nnswcr to the inlerro:;alion, the writer lias tliought 

 fit to lay hefore the public some fiicts, the result of 

 l;i« own ohscrvutiuii, and likewise some causes 

 whieh appear to have produced the rapid decay 

 of liuiber under certain circumstances. 



Ahliough the facts which have fillin under my 

 ohborvntion, in some instances, are very different 

 from those stated by the gentleman of Long 

 Island, still I doubt not but the facts stated by 

 him arc in perfect accordance with tlioso which 

 have fallen under his observation ; and although 

 like causes do not, according to our limited views, 

 always appear to prodiire like effects, we oiiglit 

 not to come to the conclusion, that the fixed and 

 unalterable laws of nature ever change ; but rest 

 satisfied, that any, and <i\viy cause umler like cir- 

 cumstances, always has, and always will, produce 

 the same result, however we may be. deceived as 

 to any specious appearance. Having assumed 

 the above premises, it may be thought proper to 

 inquire into the causes which operate to produce 

 the destruction of tind)cr, and whenever u satis- 

 fiictory solution is found, it follows in course, that 

 whatever counteraels or prevents that cause fioiii 

 oporaiiiig, so long timber may be preserved. But 

 tiie ii;.:t is so obvious that the sap naturally in 

 green wood and timber is the primary cause of 

 its rapid decay, as also lli,; several degrees of 

 humiilily to which it may be exposed, that it seems 

 needless to look fur other causes. If these pre- 

 MiisCB be correct, it fidlows that the sooner the 

 green timber is deprived of its sap, and the more 

 securely it is kept from the rot, the longer it will 

 last, and if that be efi'ected more speedily by cut- 

 ting it at one time than at another, no one can be 

 a: a loss u'hcn to fell his timber, provided the 

 above (iict be ascertained ; but it may be presumed 

 that well attested e.vpcrimcnts arc wanting to de- 

 cide this point. 



With such facts as are known, nnd such as may 

 reasonably be siippo.sed to result, I think it must 

 .-ippear evident that the best time to cut timber, 

 having in view its durabiliiy, is when the sap 

 flows most freely. Some, perhaps, may be startled 

 at this assertion, when the writer has just slated 

 that tl]i! sap is the primary cause of the dpcay of 

 timber, and may ask how can it fidlow that the 

 best time to cut timber is when there is the most 

 •ap in it? The writer does not say the best time 

 is when it contains most sap, but when it Jlows 

 most freely. That timber ever contains a much 

 greater degree of sap at one time than at another, 

 may bo doubted. Let us attend to well known 

 facts. 



The writer of Long Island says, that " wo know 

 that II white onk, (and we may say the game of 

 Hliiu..st any kind of timber, even of pitch pine) cut 

 down in February, and left lying till June, will 

 fend out smiill sprouts from the body, and that the 

 bark will loosen and may bo stripped off." 

 'Hiese facts must have been often remorked by 

 the iiiuNl superficial observer. 



N.iW, if two sticks of limber, i>ne cut in Febru- 



Oct. 2, 1829. 



ary, and the other in June, e.\liibit the same op- | anil the bark taken off, remained as "bar 

 pearancc, does it not f.dlow that there is ns much ! Iiorn," owing iioJ to the lime of cultiug, but to 

 sap in the timlK-r ill February, os in June ; and inanner of trcutiiienl afterwards, 

 that in biith cases the beat of summi.'r is the cause I The writer of this article, a few years si 

 of the ai'tion of the sop which is put in circula- I 'Voiu necessity at the time, cut jn IMav 

 lion producing the same results in both cases ? . while oak posts from five to eight or nine iiK-bi 

 This vital principle of the vegetable kingdom diameter, and had them immediately set ; but 

 bearing a near resemblance to the blood of the ! lasted barely four years : whereas, had thev 

 uiiimal kiiiirdom, by undergoing certain changes ' feusoned, tlicy would probably have la-tcd 



by the means of the leaves, produces all that 

 pleasing variety of flowers and fruits on which 

 the eye delights to dwell, or the taste to enjoy. 



The most extpiisite peach, and delicious straw- 

 berry, ore but the sap of the tree, in another form, 

 prepared in nature's laboratory : but this fluid, 



times four years. The Long Island writer in 

 some sialeinents in regard to locust posts, that 

 much at variance with facts which liav 

 pired in this region ; but ihiy were not the I 

 of locust probably growing in this viciiiii 

 ays that " Locust wooif is sujiposcd to I 



dcpriied of the proper apparatus (the leaves) for years, and that it may be cut at any 

 producing these efTect.s, will become stagnated, | goes on to say, " This is certainly wronu' 



and soon, very soon, in warm weather, undergo a 

 degree of fermentation, and hasten the decoy of 

 that body, wherever it remains. This substance, 

 termed the sap, will much more freely evaporate 

 in some kinds of timber than in others. In some 

 it is a thick, viscous substance, ami in others a 

 thill fluid. A tree cut in June, and the bark left 

 on, the sap must undergo a degree of fermenta- 

 tion immediately, much to the injury of the tim- 

 ber. A tree cut in February, and the bark left on, 

 would part with but a small jiortion of the sap, 

 and as the heat of summer increased, would also 

 produce the same result as the one cut in June. 



Ilcncc, a white pine stick of timber, will be- 

 come, in a fiiw weeks, in warm weather, if the 

 bark be left on, seriously injured : but if this same 

 log had boon divested of its bark, anil soaked a 

 few days in water, thereby rendering the sap more 

 fluid, the same would escape through the pores of 

 the wood, and thereby have been the means of 

 preserving it from decay for years. 



Our common poplars, when rut nnd peeled, 

 will last several years perfectly sound ; but if they 

 were left with the bark on, would hardly hold to- 

 gether one season. 



The same remark will apply to white biich, 

 which is one of the most perishable kinds of wood 

 when left with the barii on. Hence we may 

 learn why the sill cut in July, 1778, by Mr Coop- 

 er, as mentioned by the " gentleman of Long 

 Island, should last so long. The same w riter ob- 

 serves " There are barns on Long Island, which 



have been built with timber cut in summer. In 



those barns we find hickory, gum, and oak rafters 

 with the bark stripped off, as hard as horn, and 

 uninjured by worms." lint after making this 

 statement, thir above writer says, "with such evi- 

 dence before ils, it certainly appears, that we an- 

 ignorant of the jiroper time to cut ship timber ; " 

 by which term I presume ho means to include all 

 timber, for every purpose' ; as ids remarks are not 

 cotillned to that jiarticiilar kind of timber, but he 

 mentions posts, sills, nifter.o, &c. 15ut with such 

 evidence, substantiated by fiicts, ns he nlone has 

 staled, laying aside ten thousand others which 

 woiilil corroborate his statement, does it apjiear 

 that there is any need of being ignorant of the pro- 

 per time to cut timber, w hen he says, his chesiiut 

 posts cut ill March, and .set in the summer, lasted 

 Hi years — while those cut in May, only laste.l ]-2 

 years. The posts cut in March had time before 

 thiy were used to lose a part, ami perhaps a large 

 part, of the sap before placing ilieni in the ground ; 

 while thoso cut in May had •certainly less time, 

 and were probably immediately put into the 

 ground. The sill and raflcrs, by being hewed, 



in proof of his statement, says his " locU;,t p 

 are rotten and removed, the red cedar are 

 feet and sound:" these posts he slates to 1 

 been purchased in 130L Although our lo 

 when used for postsin this vicinity, are not km 

 to last " forever and ever, having been tri<d 

 and out," like the man's cedar rails, yet the wi 

 has never been able to learn that any locust \i 

 have ever been seen decayed in this region, 

 such was the confidence of the writer of this 

 tiile in the durability of locust limber, iha 

 spent much time, and was at a serious expeiis 

 procuring about one hundred, a few years sii 

 This high opinion of their value was formed u 

 the following facts: viz. his own observa 

 for thirty years. A certain yard in AValtl 

 has been fenced more than twenty years ; 

 posts were alternately one of locust and on. 

 red cedar. Three years since it became necr; 

 ry to put in new posts in frfry place where 

 cedar posts stood, while those of locust were j 

 fectly sound, and upon cutting lliem,wcrcas "h 

 as horn." 



When .Mr Peck built his seat in Newton, \ 

 known in this vicinity for its elevated nnd c< 

 manding situation, and as now devoted to the 

 of a Theological Instif.ition, he made use of t 

 chesnut, anil locust posts, in fencing the gard. 

 but when the premises were purchased a I 

 years sirce, by the present proprietors, in mak 

 the necessary repairs, the same soundness in re 

 to the locust posts occurred as at Wnllbam. 



A gentleman of my acquaintance, of the m 

 undoubted veracity, stated, that having one loc 

 post, and no special use for it, it had lain on 

 ground more than 20 years, and it w as perlc. 

 sound. This, however, seems rather digressi 

 and iheneforc the writer will forbear statins J 

 more circumstances at this time in regard to 

 durability of locust timber, and will give his r 

 sons why the summer is considered to be ibe b 

 time to fell timber, which are these. The s:ip 

 then in such a fiiiid slate, if it be not confined 

 the bark, as lo soon evaiiorate, ami leave the w< 

 dry and compact ; whereas, when limber is cut 

 other seasons the bark w ill adhere so firmlv as 

 be with difiiciilly separale<l from the worid, a 

 we may well suppose, that al"ter Uiiig sevo 

 months, until the aciion of the snp is prodiic 

 by the heat of summer, so ns to admit the peeli 

 of the bark, that some of it must have iiiideriro 

 n partial change, and rrmniii in the wood : the 

 fore mechanics, who are driiroiis of bavin:; ti 

 her /Aoroi/gA/i/ sensoneil, fir.st sonk the limber 

 water some days : this ]irocess ileslroys much 

 thill adhesive .pinlity of the sap which prevents 

 speedy eva[iuralinu. 



