TIMBER. 



wears the appeirance of decay. Who-e the demand is briflv 

 and the price hi^h, lie Ihould ro two fteps further, and marie 

 not only fueh as are full ^own, but fucVi alfo as are neai" 

 perfeAioTi ; for the intercS of the money, tlie difincum- 

 brance of tlie approaching younjr timbers, and the com- 

 parative advantages of a good market, are not to be bartered 

 for any increafe of timber which can reafonably be ex- 

 pected from trees in the lad Itage of tlicir growth. 



In the work of felling timber, three diftmft methods are 

 prac\ifed and had recourfe to in different cafes ; as, firft, that 

 of cutting the trees aiovi ground; fevering tliem from 

 their roots, by means of the axe or the faw ; leaving what 

 are termed Jlools, to occupy the fpots where they Hood. 

 Second, that of cutting them, within tlie ground, with the 

 axe and mattock ; but leaving the principal parts of the 

 roots in the foil. And third, that of grubbing them up by 

 the roots, by the ufe of the fpade and mattock; thus throw- 

 ing them down with the butts and large roots adhering to 

 the ftems. Tiie preference to be given to one or other of the 

 two firft modes of taking down timber-trees, refts, it is faid, 

 chiefly on the nature of the future application of the land 

 upon which they grow. If it be intended to remain in the 

 ftate of woodland, the firft n.ethod, or the fecond, if too 

 much of the main roots be not cut away, is the beft and 

 moft ehgible. But if the land is to be cleared for the pur- 

 pofes of agriculture, where fufficient hands can be had for 

 difpatcliing the bufmefs, the fecond is, by far, the beft. 

 The laft is improper in moft cafes. 



The writer of the rural economy of the midland 

 diftricts ftates, that there the methods of Jlocking, axe- 

 grubiing, and axe-falling are praftifed. That the firft is a 

 kind of partial grubbing, in which the roots are cut through 

 a foot or more from the ftem ; and, again, a foot or more 

 from the inner cutting ; taking up a ftiort length of the 

 thickeft part of the roots, and digging a trench round the 

 tree, wide enough to come at the downward roots. That 

 the fecond, or axe-grubbing, is fomewhat fimilar to the mode 

 of grub-felling defcribed below, except that the end of the 

 butt is left larger in thefe places than in that cafe. And 

 that the third, or axe-falling, is the common method of 

 Yorkdiirc, and other places, of cutting off above ground, 

 with the axe ; a method which is feldom praftifed, except 

 ii! fome few cafes where another crop of timber, or of 

 coppice-wood, is defigned to be taken. Stocking is the 

 prevailing mode ; — the charge for taking down varying with 

 the fize of the tree : for a tree of two feet in diameter, it is 

 about a (hilling ; and about four-pence more for cutting off 

 the butt ; the ftocking and butting being, for the moft part, 

 let together. Other modes, too, are praftifed in other dif- 

 trifts in performing the bufinefs ; as that of fawing the trees 

 off in an horizontal manner clofe by the furface of the 

 ground, by means of a long faw with one or both handles 

 fixed on the upper fide, the trees being firft dipped in by 

 the axe on the tailing fide. 



The method of faJhng timber praftifed in the county of 

 Norfolk, is faid, by the fame writer, to be uniform, and 

 perhaps pecuhar to the county. It is very aptly called 

 grub-felling ; the operation partaking both of grubbing and 

 of felling with the axe, in the common way above ground ; 

 a method which is wafteful of timber. The woodman of 

 this diftrift, therefore, fells below the furface of the ground, 

 by cuttnig off the horizontal roots clofe to the ftem, which, 

 inftead of ftjortening, he, in effeft, lengthens, by adding to 

 It a conical point, cut out of the crown of the root ; fo that 

 by this way of proceeding, a greater length of timber is 

 obtamed, than by firft grubbing and afterwards cutting off 



the butt witli A faw. Grub-felling is, it is thought, with- 

 out doubt, the moft eligible way of taking down hedge-row 

 timber ; and this, it is fuppofed, accounts for its being the 

 eftablifhed praftice in the above county. 



The difpofal of timber, which often takes place before it 

 is cut down, is to be regulated by the occafion of it, as arifing 

 from thsjlate of the timber, or other caufes and circum- 

 ftanccs. It is, however, fcldon^ proper and beneficial to 

 fell and cut it down before its moft profitable ftate of ; 

 growth is reached ; thoiigh this principle may fometiraes be 

 fet afide by particular circumftances, as the nature of a 

 market ; the value of the land it encumbers by its growth, 

 being greater than its annual increafe ; the intereft of the 

 money it is worth, with that of the growth from the ftools, 

 being greater than the increafe of the ftanding timber, &c. 

 It is confequently rarely advantageous to fuffer timber to 

 remain upon its roots, after it has attained its full growth ; 

 — as, in this cafe, the whole of the intereft is loft, it is faid, 

 to the owner ; while the ufe of one of the moft valuable 

 articles of the produce of the country is loft to it and the 

 whole community. 



In fpeaking of oak-timber, the late bifhop of Landaff has 

 given fome ufeful and interefting remarks in regard to the 

 difpofal of it, in the introduftion to the Agricultural 

 Report of the State of the County of Weftmoreland. Where 

 profit IS confidered, it is faid every tree fhould be cut dow.i 

 and fold, when the annua] increafe in value of the tree by its 

 growth, is lefs than the annual intereft of the money it would 

 fell for. This being admitted, it is only neceffary to inquire 

 into the annual increafe in the value of oaks of different ages. 

 After different ftatements, thirty-fix {hillings each are fixed 

 upon as the price of trees that (hould be cut down and fold : 

 as, if they be cut down before they arrive at that value, or if 

 they be allowed to remain until they will fell for a much 

 higher price, the proprietor of the foil or land on whicii 

 they grow will be a lofer. It is noticed too, as being the 

 general opinion, that it is more profitable to fell and fell oak- 

 wood at fifty or fixty years' growth, than to let it ifand for 

 navy timber to eighty or a hundred, owing to the low price 

 that is now paid for oak-trees of large dimenfions, either by 

 the Navy Board or the Eaft India Company. On this 

 account, it is advifed making a much greater increafe of 

 price than ordinary on timber of this fort of lai-ge fcantling, 

 as in place of four or five pounds the load, if eight or nine 

 were given for trees containing each one hundred cubic feet 

 and upwards, every perfon in the kingdom, it is thought, 

 would have a reafonable motive for letting his timber ftand 

 until it became of a fize fit for the ufe of the navy ; whereas, 

 according to the prefent eftabliftied price, it is every one's 

 intereft to cut down and fell their trees before they arrive at 

 a proper fize to be ufeful as navy timber. This fuggefts, 

 too, the neceffity of attending to the royal forefts in a more 

 particular manner ; and may be an additional inducement to 

 the trying the cultivation and growth of the larch in them, 

 and training it for ftiip-timber. See Timber, Crooked 

 Growth of. 



There are feveral different modes of difpofing of timber 

 according to tlie nature of it, the fituation, and the cuftoms 

 of the diftrifts to which it belongs ; but the principal of 

 them are, firft, thofe of felling the trees ftanding; either by 

 autfion, by receiving written propofals, or by bargain and 

 fale : fecond, cutting the trees down, and feUing them in the 

 rough ; by any of the above modes : third, converting the 

 fallen trees ; that is, cutting them up into wares to which 

 they are beft adapted, or which are moft faleable in the par- 

 ticular fituation. On a large timbered eftaie, the firft mode 



