138 Cutting and Seasoning of Wood. 



proved French writer 1 to remark as follows : " The result of this ex- 

 perience has a tendency to contradict the received opinion relative to 

 the time of cutting the deciduous Avoods, and seems also to afford 

 an argument in favor of cutting these trees in summer, after the 

 movements of the sap has ceased if not with respect to their 

 calorific properties, at least in favor of their durability. But it 

 would be imprudent to give a positive opinion upon this point until 

 the facts have been accurately ascertained by numerous exact and 

 comparable experiments, and until this has been done, it would be 

 safer to follow the old rules. It is, furthermore, probable that the 

 difference is chiefly shown in the more or less complete maturity of 

 the sap-wood, and that it is greater in that part." It appears, there- 

 fore, that the question as to the proper season for cutting can not be 

 regarded as settled, until more carefully settled by observation. 



559. It may be of some historical interest, but probably of not 

 much practical importance, to notice the superstitions that have pre- 

 vailed, and which are still observed, with respect to the effect of the 

 moon's age at the time that trees are felled. It is traced in the writings 

 of the ancients and is mentioned by Columella, Cato, Vitruvius, and 

 Pliny. The first Napoleon directed that the time for felling naval 

 timber should be "in the wane of the moon, from November 1st to 

 March 15th." The wood-cutters in some countries act in accordance 

 with this belief. 



560. It is laid down as a precept by Behlen, 2 that "all build- 

 ing timber must be felled two or three days before or after the new 

 moon, and in a dry time, and oak timber always at the new moon," 

 and adds, that the timber cut at that time has greater durability. 

 He gives nearly two pages of precepts, extending to particular days 

 of the week in connection with the moon's age, and varying some- 

 what in different seasons of the year. We deem these rules as quite 

 without reason, and can see no other effect from the moon's presence 

 or absence than that due to a moderate amount of light without 

 heat. 



The Seasoning of Woods. 



561. Wood when newly cut, contains from thirty-seven to forty- 

 eight per cent of water, depending upon the kind, age, and the season 



1 H. banquette, late Director of the School of Forestry, at Nancy, France. 



2 Real-und Verbal-Lexicon, der Frost und Jagdkunde. iv. 676. 



