On the Dry Rot. 173 



tubes of the heart-wood, aUhough the whole quantity that es- 

 caped was not so large as in the other case. The resiiks of these 

 experiments accord with a known fact in regard to the sugar- 

 maple, namely, that no sap can be obtained from the tubes of the 

 alburnum of that tree, and therefore they are obliged to bore the 

 hole for the tube through the alburnum, into the heart-wood be- 

 fore it will run.* 



The first experiment shows plainly, that the sap is in the tubes 

 of the alburnum in the summer, and I believe this accords with 

 the present theory in botany ; and I believe also, that it is con- 

 ceded by botanists that the sap is the cause of the dry rot ; then 

 why was the practice of cutting timber in the winter ever intro- 

 duced, except for the purpose of economy in saving the alburnum 

 from the rot ? 



In the second experiment it can be clearly seen, that the doc- 

 trine of sap being principally in the roots of trees in the winter, 

 is false, and therefore should be discarded for the mischief it has 

 already done, and the truth should be established, which is, that 

 in the winter the sap is in the tubes of the heart-wood of the whole 

 tree, roots , body, and branches, and is there protected from injury 

 by the frost. By what process it gets there, and how protected, 

 is perhaps yet veiled in mystery ; but all must confess, that it is 

 conveyed there by a natural law, and thus protected from injury ; 

 the beneficent design is too obvious to be attributed to any other 

 than Almighty power. 



At the period I was strenuously advocating the doctrine of 

 cutting timber in the winter, I had a small apple-tree which had 

 been engrafted with a choice fruit, and had been growing per- 

 haps seven or eight years. There was one limb on it which I 

 did not like, because it was growing in a wrong direction, and 

 therefore I took it off in December, because of course I did be- 

 lieve the sap to be then in the roots, and therefore at this season 

 there would none of it be wasted or taken away with the limb, 

 and of consequence the branches left would receive a greater pro- 

 portion of nourishment in the spring. After the occurrence of the 

 circumstances before detailed, I examined the tree, and found 

 that the part or stump of the limb which remained within the 



* It will be remembered that the sugar maple is always tapped at the close of 

 winter, and first dawning of spring, when there are sunny days and frosty nights. 



—Ed. 



