CUTTING THE "LIVE OAKS." 185 



lutely necessary, this timber is hauled five or six miles to the 

 nearest water-course, where, although it sinks, it can, with com- 

 parative ease, be shipped to its destination. The best time for 

 cutting the ' live oak ' is considered to be from the first of 

 December to the first of March, or while the sap is completely 

 down. When the sap is flowing the tree is ' bloom,' and more 

 apt to be ' shaken.' The white rot, which occurs so frequently 

 in the live oak, and is perceptible only by the best judges, 

 consists of round spots, about an inch and a half in diameter, 

 on the outside of the bark, through which, at that spot, a hard 

 stick may be driven several inches, and generally follows the 

 heart up or down tlie trunk of the tree. So deceiving are these 

 spots and trees to persons unacquainted with this defect, that 

 thousands of trees are cut and abandoned. The great number 

 of trees of this sort strewn in the woods would tend to make a 

 stranger believe that there is much more good oak in the 

 country than there really is ; and perhaps, in reality, not more 

 than one fourth of the quantity usually reported is to be pro- 

 cured. The ' live oakers ' generally revisit their distant homes 

 in the middle and eastern states, where they spend the summer, 

 returning to the Floridas at the approach of winter. Some, 

 however, who have gone there with their families, remain for 

 years in succession, although they suffer much from the climate, 

 by which their once good constitutions are often greatly im- 

 paired. This was the case with the individual above mentioned, 

 from whom I subsequently received much friendly assistance in 

 my pursuits." 



