NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



From Silliman's Journal 



ON THE DRY ROT. 



BY PHINEAS RAINEY, MfnDI.ETO W.N, CO.N.N 

 CConliniifil.) 



When I have known the period at which cer- 

 tain trees have been cut, ami also their locality, 

 I have afterwards, year after year, examined their 

 stunifiK, and watched their decay, and have invari- 

 ably found, that of tho.se of them which were cut 

 in the winter, the disease first made its appearance 

 in the heart-wood, and continued its ravages until 

 that was destroyed, and up to that period the albur- 

 num was comparatively sound. And of those that 

 were cut in the sunmicr, the disease first made its 

 appearance in the alburnum, which, in many cases, 

 after a few years entirely disappeared, hut the 

 heart-wood remained sound and dry. And here 

 let me observe, that in the examination of this de- 

 scription of timber, J have always found it sound 

 and dry, which leads me to believe that tliis is ow- 

 ing to the peculiar state of the heart-wood at the 

 time of the death of the tree, and therefore it is 

 more impervious to water, which of itself, waiving 

 every other ccjnsideration, would make it more du- 

 rable.- 



Our woods afford many facts, which, if rightly 

 examined, would go to show that the doctrine I 

 have advanced is the true one. Trees may be 

 found uprooted and lying prostrate, from ^fhich the 

 alburnum has disappeared in consequence of dry 

 rot, and yet the heart-wood remains sound ; stumps 

 of dry limbs are observed projecting from rged liv- 

 ing trees, which from appearance have been in that 

 situation for ages, and from which the alburnum 

 has also disappeared, yet the heart-wood will be 

 firm and .sound ; trees are seen standing erect, on 

 the alburnum of which the dry rot seems to have 

 exhausted all its power, and caused it also to dis- 

 appear, but it had no power to act on the heart- 

 wood ; and by their dusky and ragged appearance 

 such trees seem to have been in that situation for 

 a grent number of years, and thus it appears that 

 time only was slowly decomposing their outer sur- 

 faces, for if examined, it will be found that they 

 are sound and dry within, and much harder than 

 the same kind of timber seasoned in any other way. 

 Can there be any doubt as to the fact tliat these 

 limbs and these trees received their death in the 

 summer? Others also are found lying prostrate 

 with the heart-wood entirely destroyed by the dis- 

 ease, yet the alburnum is in a tolerable state of 

 preservation ; others present nothing but masses 

 of decay, and in the bodies and limbs of others, 

 holes will be perceived from which once projected 

 heallliy branches ; and to one tliat is experienced 

 in timber, these are sure signs that death has en. 

 tered into their composition, however otherwise 

 their appearance might indicate a healthy state. 

 These trees and these limbs received their death 

 wounds in the winter. 



There are numerous facts in the most common 

 transactions of life that will sustain me in my po- 

 sition. I believe that the general practice through- 

 out the northern and middle states is to peel such 

 trees as are to be manufactured into ship plank ; 

 by saving the bark, this probably makes the busi- 

 ness more profitable than it would odierwiso be. 



It is invariably the case, that by the time the 

 planks become thoroughly seasoned the alburnum 

 becomes so injured by the dry rot as to be unfit to 

 be used; and tor my own part I never saw any 



jri>Y II. 1838. 



fected at all, unless the tree had contracted tlie 

 disease befnre its death. Now I appeal, for the 

 truth of these assertions, to all the experienced 

 ship-carpenters who are in the least acquainted 

 with this kind of timber. The season of peeling 

 is from the third week in iMay to the second week 

 in June. It is not probable tliat all the timbers 

 required for a seventy-four, or indeed any otlier 

 public vessel, are cut in the compass of any one 

 month, but that they commence perhaps in Octo- 

 ber, and continue the cutting into April, and some- 

 times into May, and in cases of great emergencv, 

 into June. Then, if I am right in ray views, va- 

 rious periods must elapse before all the timbers 

 will have been attacked by the disease ; and when 

 the planks are taken off from any one of them 

 preparatory to their being repaired, do not the tim- 

 bers present that appearance ? Are there not those 

 on which the dry rot has exhausted all its power 

 and finished their destruction, and others which 

 are less decayed, others not so much ? Indeed, 

 the disease can be traced until you find those 

 which seem to defy and continue to defy its energy, 

 even after the vessel has undergone repeated re- 

 pairs, and these circumstances occur too, even af- 

 ter the timbers have been subjected to some artifi- 

 cial process to make them more durable. 



The following is a case in point. In the North 

 American Review, No. xcv. for April, 1837, pp. 

 343-44, in the article on the Sylva Americana, the 

 following passage occurs. " The white oak was 

 largely employed in the frame of our favorite frig- 

 ate (the Constitution) which was built forty years 

 ago. In the course of tlie very thorough repair to 

 which this vessel was lately subjected, many of 

 the white oak timbers of her frame were found in 

 excellent condition ; and it is stated on the best 

 authority, that in several instances the timber.^ of 

 this description were sound, while others by their 

 sides, of the southern live oak, had decayed. Now 

 the superiority of the live oak, in point of durabil- 

 ity, over the oak of any other country, has never 

 been doubted." Why did net all the white oak 

 timber last forty years, if there had not been some 

 variation of the season of cutting them .' and so 

 with the live oaks. 



It is a well known fact, that the building of the 

 Constitution commenced when we were on the eve 

 of a maritime war with France, or it had already 

 commenced, and therefore we may suppose that 

 the com|)letion of the ship was hurried ; and that 

 her frame did not all arrive from tlie south in time, 

 so that they were compelled to employ the white 

 oak in her construction ; probably the .season in 

 which it was cut was not much regarded, and 

 therefore some of her white oak timber lasted forty 

 years. 



I saw in one of the Reviews of the day a cir- 

 cumstance of this kind, although I cannot now give 

 the reference. In a mine, I believe in one of the 

 German states, the timbers made use of to support 

 the roofs of the galleries, were in a few months 

 destroyed by the dry rot, and this could not be ob- 

 viated by every experiment that was tried, until 

 they made use of the locust. The effect was ac- 

 counted for in this way ; the dry rot, it is true, de 



stroyed the alburnum immediately ; but the decay- 

 ed alburnum answered for a coating to defend the 

 heart-Wood from its influence. If tiiis be the fact, 

 why did not the decayed alburnum of the otlier 

 timber answer the same purpose .' But however, 

 if the histories of those locusts were reverted to, it 



. , ^ ,. , ' — •' "'•'"■ '"""'">-» o' i-uose locusis were reverted to, It 



timber ol this sort where the heart-wood was af- would most probably be found that they were killed 



some time in the summer : and it will also be found 

 that if the decayed alburnum be not removed it 

 I will generate another disease, which in some re- 

 spects resembles and is very often taken for the 

 dry rot. 



Numerous other instances can be brought to 

 bear in this case. Farmers cut their rails in the 

 summer, when tlie bark will ppak, and they last 

 from^ fifty to a hundred years. They account for 

 the fact in this way ; if they cut them in the win- 

 ter, the bark will stick to the rails, and after a lit- 

 tle while, the water gets under it and causes them 

 to decay sooner. On the contrary, they cut their 

 posts in the winter ; probably this is done for the 

 convenience of cutting holes in them at that sea- 

 son, and although their rails last so long, yet tlieir 

 posts begin to decay in about seven or eight years, 



according to the soil in which they are placed. 



When from necessity they are obligeil to cut a 

 few posts in the summer, (with the expectation 

 however that they will soon decay,) if they last 

 thirty or forty years, (and there are instances of 

 this kind,) they speak of it as a very extraordinary 

 circumstance, but never inquire into the natural 

 cause, nor alter their practice. There are other 

 instances of the extraordinary longevity of timber ; 

 wooden abutments to bridges, pumps, piles, foun- 

 dations of wharves, cofferdams, &c. a full notice of 

 which would fill a volume, all go to show that 

 there is a season in which to cut timber that will 

 cause it to last for years beyond what it now lasts ; 

 and that there is a season in which to cut it, when 

 it will not last over eight years, notwithstanding 

 any artificial process through which the timber may 

 pass. 



Immersion in water was one process, that was 

 thought good to make timber more durable, and 

 which was practised by tlie British government for 

 a great number of years, and followed by that of 

 the United States, until it was exploded ; and ac- 

 cording to the English writers oh the subject, tlie 

 life of their oaks averaged only about nine years, 

 and that of our own favorite live oaks about the 

 same period. Salt is one of those substances that 

 in the popular opinion is good to make timber more 

 durable, and hence the room between the timbers 

 of every new vessel built by the government, is 

 filled with it. But notwithstanding this, they have 

 to undergo repairs in their hulls in about eight or 

 nine years. So it has been with every artificial 

 process, and so it will be until nature is more con- 

 sulted, and her dictates more regarded. 



Nature no doubt was the preceptor of the an- 

 cients, and particularly the Romans, who, it is said, 

 girdled their trees, and let tlicm stand until they 

 were seasoned. Is not this more in accordance 

 witli the dictates of nature, than to place timber un- 

 der water, and let it lie there for eight or ten years, 

 to have its tubular fibres swollen and distended to 

 such a degree as to destroy its elasticity and its 

 firmness, and thereby prepare it for a more rapid 

 decay .^ And what was gained by that practice .' 

 Truly nothing ; for, eight or ten years was its life 

 before immersion, and it is no more than eight or 

 ten years, after its hnmersion ; and in what consists 

 the value of salt, which only cools the outside sur- 

 face, and therefore keeps it sound, but within, the 

 disease is raging with redoubled violence. The 

 only question is, when did the ancients girdle their 

 trees? Was it in the winter ? If any other proof 

 is wanting, to show that they did not do it at that 

 season, it may be found in the practice of the pion- 

 eers of our western hard wood forests : there, as I 



