Book III. 



PREPARING TREES FOR USE OR SALE. 



971 



want the tree to fall, and keep driving it slowly till the tree is nearly cut tlirougli." 



(3fonteath.) 



6960. Disbranching. The tree being felled, is next divested of its branches, which are sorted into 

 fence-wood, fuel, ton-wood, &c. according to the kind of tree ; and the trunk is generally preserved as 

 entire as possible for the purchaser. Sometimes it is cut in two, and the root-cut, or but-end, being the 

 most valuable, sold for one class of purposes at a higher price, and the top-cuts for others somewhat 

 lower. Sometimes timber is purchased by private contract by the foot or load m a growmg state, or after 

 being cut down ; in other cases regular sales are made annually, and the produce exposed lor sale by 

 auction. It is measured by the cubic foot, fifty of which are a load ; and the calculated tables and 

 Measw-er's Guide generally resorted to, are those of Hoppus. 



6961. The roots of trees are the last product we shall mention. These should, in 

 almost every case, be efFectually eradicated ; to aid in which, in the case of very large 

 roots, splitting by wedges, refting by gunpowder (1941.), tearing up by the hydrostatic 

 press (Jig. 211.), or by a common lever and triangle (fig. 666.), may be resorted to. Some 

 compact ash or oak roots are occasion- 

 ally in demand by smiths, leather- 

 cutters, and others ; but in general 

 roots should be reduced to pieces not 

 exceeding three feet long, and six 

 inches in diameter, and put up in 

 stacks not less than three feet every 

 way, but commonly containing two 

 cubic yards. These, when dry, are 

 sold for fuel, or reduced to charcoal 

 on tJie spot. In eradicating and stack- 

 ing up coppice- woods, it is common to allow a certain sum per sack, something for 

 every acre of ground cleared ; and if there are no trees to bark, the allowances are also 

 made for the poles, faggots, &c. so that no part of the operation is performed by day- 

 work. 



6962. The usual method of charring wood is as follows : — 



6963. The wood being collected near the place intended for the operation, and cut into billets, 

 generally about three feet in length, the pits or stacks are usually formed in this manner : A spot, 

 adapted to the purpose, of from about fifteen or twenty feet in diameter, of a conical form, is selected, and 

 after being properly levelled, a large billet of wood split across at one end, and pointed at the other, is 

 fixed in the centre of the area, with its pointed extremity in the earth, and two pieces of wood, inserted 

 through the clefts of the other end, forming four right angles ; against these cross-pieces, four other billets 

 of wood are placed, one end on the ground, and the other leaning against the angles. A number of large 

 and straight billets are afterwards laid on the ground^ to form a floor, each being, as it were, the radius 

 of the circular area ; on this floor, a proper quantity of brush or small wood is strewed, to fill up the in- 

 terstices, when the floor will be complete : and in order to keep the billets in the same position in which 

 they were first arranged, pegs or stumps are driven into the ground, in the circumference of the circle, 

 about a foot distant from one another ; upon this floor a stage is built, with billets set upon one end, 

 somewhat inclining towards the central billet, and on the tops of these another floor is laid, in a horizontal 

 direction, but of shorter billets, as the whole is intended, when finished, to form a cone. The whole is 

 then coated over with turf, and the surface generally plastered with a mixture of earth and charcoal-dust. 



0964. Previous to the operation of setting fire to the pile, the central billet in the upper stage is drawn 

 out, and pieces of dry combustible wood substituted in its place, to which the fire is applied. Great atten- 

 tion is necessary during the process, in the proper management of the fire, and in immediately covering 

 up the apertures through which the flame obtrudes itself, until the operation be concluded, which is 

 generally effected in the space of two or three days according to circumstances. When the charcoal is 

 thought to be sufficiently burnt, which is easily known from the appearance of the smoke, and the flames 

 no longer issuing with impetuosity through the vents ; all the apertures are to be closed up very carefully, 

 with a mixture of earth and charcoal-dust, which, by excluding all access of the external air, prevents 

 the coal from being any further consumed, and the fire goes out of itself In this condition it is suffered 

 to remain, till the whole is suflSciently cooled ; when the cover is removed, and the charcoal is taken away. 

 If the whole process is skilfully managed, the coals will exactly retain the figure of the pieces of wood : 

 some are said to have been so dexterous, as to char an arrow, without altering even the figure of the 

 feather. {Encyc. Brit. vol. v. art. Charcoal.) 



6965. The method of charring wood, for the making of gunpowder, according to an improved system, 

 adopted not many years ago, is however a much more costly operation, though the expense attending it is 

 amply compensated by the superior excellence of the article when manufactured. It is done in iron 

 cylinders, and in so complete a manner, that every particle of the wood is charred. The oily or tarry 

 matter is also preserved, and may, so far as the quantity goes, be made use of instead of foreign tar or 

 pitch. This mode of charring wood for making gunpowder, is carried to the greatest perfection, near 

 Petworth in Sussex, and there is a manufacture of a similar nature near Chester. {Gen. Rep. for f}cotland, 

 70\. ii. p. 332.) ' 



6966. The valuation of trees forms a distinct profession, and can only be acqviired after 

 much experience; like other valuations of property, it depends on a great variety of con- 

 siderations, some of a general, but the greater part of a local nature. All we shall here 

 attempt, is to give a few general ideas which may be of use to the private cultivator or 

 forester. 



6967. In valuing any plantation, the first thing is to know its contents in acres ; if this 

 cannot be done, the number of plants must be counted. If a young plantation, the trees 

 of which are unfit for present use as timber, is to be valued, then its value at any distant 

 period, not exceeding twenty or twenty-five years, must be estimated ; and whatever sum 

 that estimate amounts to, the present value of that sum will give an idea of the value of 

 ihe plantation, allowing liberally for accidents to the trees and other unforeseen circum- 

 stances. Tims, suppose a plantation of oaks, intended as copse, or actually established as 



