230 



A DISCOURSE 



BOOK III. exercised without wood, will quickly find that I speak no paradox ;) I 

 -^'^'y^ say, when this shall be well considered, it will appear that we had bet- 

 ter be without gold than without timber : this contemplation, and the 

 universal use of that precious material (which yet is not of universal 

 use till it be duly prepared) has moved me to design a solemn chapter 

 for the seasoning, as well as to mention some farther particular appli- 

 cation of it. 



The first and chiefest use of timber was, doubtless, for the building of 

 houses and habitations to shelter men in : it is in the first chapter of the 

 second book, that Vitruvius shews, in what simple and plain manner our 

 first progenitors erected their humble cottages, when, like those of Colchis 

 and Pontus, they began to creep out of the subterranean and cavernous 

 rocks, and laid the first groundsil upon which they placed the upright 

 posts, and rudely framed a pointed roof, Arhorihus perpetuis plants ; (on 

 which the critics have vexed their researches ;) from which mean begin- 

 ning, all the superb and pompous effects of architecture have proceeded. 

 But let us pursue our title, having before spoken concerning some pre- 

 parations of standing trees designed for timber, by a half cutting, dis- 

 barking, and the seasons of drawing and using it. 



SEASONING. Lay up your timber very dry, in an airy place, (yet out of the wind or 

 sun,) and not standing upright, but lying along, one piece upon another, 

 interposing some short blocks between them, to preserve them from a 

 certain mouldiness, which they usually contract while they sweat, and 



probable that the leaves, even in this state, afford them an uncommon and agreeable nou- 

 rishment. 



" Thirdly. There is a saving in point of expense, which is no inconsiderable object in 

 places vchere tan cannot be had but from a great distance, as is the case here ; the article 

 of carriage amounting to ten shillings for each \i^aggon-load. Indeed, this was the principal 

 reason that first induced me to make trial of leaves. 



"My last ground of preference is the consideration, that decayed leaves make good 

 manure; whereas rotten tan is experimentally found to be of no value. I have often 

 tried it both on sand and clay, also on wet and dry lands, and never could discover, in 

 any of my experiments, that it deserved the name of a manure ; whereas decayed leaves 

 are the richest, and, of all others, the most suitable for a garden. But this must only be 

 understood of leaves after they have undergone their fermentation, which reduces them to 

 a true vegetable mould, in which we experimentally know that the food of plants is con- 

 tained ; — but whether that food be oil, mucilage, or salt, or a combination of all three. 



