178 On the Dry Rot. 



abutments to bridges, pumps, piles, foundations of wharves, coffer- 

 dams, &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 practiced by the Brit- 

 ish government for a great number of years, and followed by that 

 of the United States, until it was exploded ; and according to the 

 English writers on the subject, the life oi their oaks averaged only 

 about nine years, and that of om' 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 govern- 

 ment, 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 na- 

 ture is more consulted, and her dictates more regarded. 



Nature no doubt was the preceptor of the ancients, and particu- 

 larly the Romans, who, it is said, girdled their trees, and let them 

 stand until they were seasoned. Is not this more in accordance 

 with the dictates of nature, than to place timber under 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 immersion ; and in what consists the 

 value of salt, which only cools the outside surface, 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 want- 

 ing, to show that they did not do it at that season, it may be 

 found in the practice of the pioneers of our western hard wood 

 forests : there, as I have been informed, they used to girdle their 

 trees in the winter, for the very purpose of having them rot and 

 fall down, and thereby save the necessity of cutting them. I 

 think therefore, that we may fairly conclude that the Romans gir« 



