523 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



tion of corrosive sublimate throw in this hole, and 

 then closed by a tarred plug, tightly driven in, 

 will presurve'thc post for. a long time from decay. 

 This hole should rftich from the outside to the 

 ccutre, and the slow solution of the corrosive sub- 

 limate from the slight amount of moisture sus- 

 tained in tlie post, and renewed ther*e by natural 

 causes, will disseminate it througout the portion 

 most likely to decay. 



'SVe cannot agree with the writer that the al- 

 kalies will preserve wood. It is true that small 

 portions of lime may be used, because it is soon 

 converted into carbonate of lime, by the carbonic 

 acid of the atmosphere, and thus loses its causti- 

 city ; but soda, potash, and the other alkalies will 

 decompose woody fibre very rapidly, even after 

 becoming carbonates. If the amount used would 

 only be sufficient to neutralize acids in the wood, 

 forming soluble salts with such acids, and then 

 passing-away by solution, the effect might not be 

 so deleterious ; but the slightest excess of alkali 

 so applied would materially accelerate the decom- 

 position of the work. — Working Farmer. 



WHAT TIME SHALL WE CUT TIMBEE 1 



Never i}i iviiiter, but always in summer. It 

 should be cut during the most rapid season of 

 growth, and while that season is drawing towards 

 a close. The same rule should be followed that 

 skilful nurserymen observe in performing the 

 operation of budding — that is, just as the termi- 

 nal bud on each branch begins to form — as soon 

 as it is first evident that the growth of the branch 

 is about to terminate, but is still in active progress. 

 Experienced tree-propagators have found that 

 much earlier than this, the juices of the tree are 

 in too thin or liquid a state to form a good ad- 

 hesion between the bud and the peeled surface. — 

 From tlie moment that the bark separates freely 

 from the wood, these juices continue to thicken, 

 until growth ceases altogether and the new wood 

 is completely formed ; and when tliis new wood is 

 in the state of a thick paste or cement, then is 

 tlie time that the bud will adhere most perfectly. 

 This is the period when the bark may be peeled 

 from a tree without destroying its vitality. And 

 this is the time for cutting timber. Early in 

 spring, tlie tree is full of sap, which is little else 

 than pure water, and which has been gradually 

 accumulating through winter by the absorption 

 of the roots, with no outlet for its escape, as there 

 is in summer through myriads of leaves. While 

 the tree is tlius replete with water, it is in the 

 worst condition to be cut. But towards mid- 

 summer, when a portion of this water has passed 

 off thi-ougk the leaves, and the rest has been 

 much thickened by conversion into material for 

 wood, the case is very different ; for while the 

 watery sap promotes only decay, the thickened 

 juices soon dry and harden, and assist in the 

 preservation of the wood. 



We have recently been furnished with a number 

 of facts, in corroboration of this opinion, by 

 Isaac Hathaway, of Farmington, Ontario county, 

 N. Y., an old and enterprising settler, a close and 

 extensive observer, and who has had much ex- 

 perience in connexion with saw-mills and timber 

 erections. All his observations tend to show the 

 great difference between winter and summer cut 

 timber, and induce him to think that, cut at the 



best period, it will last under the average of 

 circumstances three times as long as when felled 

 in winter. In one instance, a fence, consisting of 

 winter-cut materials, a part split into rails, and 

 a portion in round poles, of beech, maple, iron- 

 wood, bass-wood, &c.,had completely decayed in 

 fifteen years, and none of it was even fit for fire- 

 wood. In another case, a quantity of l)ass-wood 

 rails were cut in summer, and split from the 

 brown or heart portion of the tree. This was 

 done about fifty years ago ; thirty years after- 

 wards the fence was quite sound, and even now 

 some of the same rails remain undecayed, although 

 much worn away liy the weather. Winter saw- 

 log^left over one summer at the mill, are usually 

 much decayed for several inches towards the 

 interior ; summer-cut logs, which have lain a like 

 period, are always sound. He has cut hickory 

 for axe-helves ; if done in winter, decay soon 

 commences, and the worm whicffloves this Avood, 

 often wholly destroys its value. Summer-cut, he 

 has never known it to be attacked by the insect, 

 and indeed it seems too hard for them to penetrate. 

 lie had occasion to examine several old frames of 

 buildings, and in every instance where the period 

 of cutting could be determined, the same striking 

 difference in durabillity was conspicuous. 



He related several experiments on the durability 

 of posts, one of which is worthy of repetition. — 

 In a gravelly soil, where the water never remains, 

 a stone bottom a few inches thick was laid in the 

 post-hole, on which the post was set, and was 

 then surrounded with stone closely rammed in on 

 every side. As a consequence, the water never 

 remains long enough in contact with the post to 

 soak its interior, as would be the case if damp 

 earth passed its outer surface. Such posts con- 

 sequently give promise of remaining sound, after 

 some years' trial, at least twice the period of those 

 simply packed in earth. He also finds that posts 

 of what is termed the white cedar in western 

 New- York, (the American abor-vita;) last niiich 

 longer when set green with the bark on, than if 

 sawed and seasoned, which he attributes to the 

 protection afforded by the duralile bark, against 

 the vicissitudes of rain and drouth, and the air 

 and weather generally.* 



Now tliat the season is approaching, best 

 adapted for timber-cutting, as indicated in the 

 preceding remarks, we hope those interested will 

 at least satisfy themselves on the subject by a fair 

 and careful trial. — Country Gentleman. 



* In orJinary instances, liowever, aboTe ground, the bark by 

 preventing seasoning, only accelerates decay. 



aUACK MEDICINES. 



We unhesitatingly condemn as injurious, nine 

 hundred and ninety-nine thousandths of all the 

 patent medicines, mixtures and salves, and washes 

 which are in use. In this country alone, more 

 than one hundred millions of dollars ! are every 

 year paid for those nostrums, which are far worse 

 than useless. While some of them may remove 

 or modify one disease, they are sowing the fruit- 

 ful seeds of a scoi'e of others. 



A plain moderate diet of mixed food, Avith 

 proper exercise, is the best safeguard against the 

 attacks of disease. Abstinence is generally the 

 best medicine. When the system has become dis- 



