72 PRACTICAL FORESTRY. 



plied with a brush, will be found an excellent preserva- 

 tive, but on large trees where there is considerable sur- 

 face to be covered, almost any good mineral paint mixed 

 with linseed oil will answer every purpose. A handy and 

 cheap ladder for forest-tree pruning is shown in figure 24. 



CHAPTEE XL 

 THE BEST TIME TO CUT TIMBER. 



If we were to take the opinions of men, practical and 

 otherwise, as our guide in selecting a time for cutting 

 timber we should never reach a conclusion in the matter, 

 for there is not a month in the twelve, that has not been 

 recommended as the very best time for felling trees in 

 order that the wood should remain sound, firm, and 

 durable. There is, no doubt, some foundation for this 

 great variation in the opinion of even those who have 

 had much practical experience in handling and working 

 of timber, and it is probably largely due to the fact that 

 in many instances, and for many purposes, no difference 

 is observable in the appearance or quality of timber 

 whether cut in winter or summer. 



Much depends upon the treatment timber receives 

 after it is cut, whether placed in a position to season 

 rapidly, or left in the woods where seasoning will go on 

 slowly ; furthermore, climate the prevalence of insects 

 that attack felled trees the kinds of timber, and various 

 other conditions and circumstances has much influence 

 on the durability and quality of wood of the same species 

 of trees. It is certainly true that there is a great differ- 

 ence in the amount of, and condition of the moisture in 

 trees at different seasons of the year, and while as a mat- 

 ter of convenience it will often be of more importance 



