246 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
July, 
Bat the two cases are not parallel, and I overlooked 
some facts that ought to be taken into the account. 
The reasoning applied to the cutting of the twigs, will 
not apply to the cutting of the trunks. The trunks cut 
in winter and early spring, do not dry so readily as the 
twigs on the approach of hot weather, especially if left 
unsplit j but on the contrary the sap begins to flow, and 
very often new shoots put forth on the approach of sum¬ 
mer, showing that the trunk is very much in the same 
state as it would have been if left standing. .In this 
state the extreme heat of summer causes the commence¬ 
ment of speedy decay. This same timber if it had been 
suffered to stand, till the vigor of the summers heat be¬ 
gan to abate, say till the last of August or first of Sep¬ 
tember, would have had the advantage of a partial ma- 
turitv. This maturity would still progress for a while 
after the tree was felled, and become perfected by the 
usual time of the falling of the leaf. If the timber 
were split or hewed at the time it was felled, it would 
be parting with its sap and drying up during the autumn, 
so that there would be but little tendency to decay in 
the first season; and before the approach of the next 
summer it tvould become so dry and well seasoned, as 
not to be subject to decay from its own sap and internal 
moisture. 
The decay of timber is owing to the combined in¬ 
fluence of heat and moisture, and the rapidity of the 
decay is in proportion to the degree of heat. A wet 
stick in winter and one kept perfectly dry in summer 
suffer no material decay. 
I was however led to a change of opinion, as to the 
best time of felling timber, not by the foregoing train 
of reasoning, but by observing that there was a material 
difference in the durability of my fences, made of the 
same material, when cut at different seasons of the year. 
I have had land cleared at almost every season of the 
year, and fenced by materials on the land ■ and some¬ 
times not of the most durable kinds of timber.. After 
some years of observation, I found contrary to my ex¬ 
pectations, that those fences that were cut in winter and 
spring, began to fail some years sooner than those that 
were cut in the latter part of summer. The difference 
was most visible in the most perishable kinds of timber, 
such as elm, poplar, and basswood. I then made a dili¬ 
gent search for the cause of this difference, and came 
to the conclusion before stated. If my reasoning is in¬ 
correct, I would be much obliged to any gentleman that 
will give a more satisfactory solution. It is desirable 
to know, not only facts, but the principles on which they 
are founded. E. D. A. 
Remarkable Swine. 
The Maine Farmer gives the weight of two uncom¬ 
monly heavy hogs. One of them was fattened by J. W. 
Sawtelle. of Norridgewock, Me., and was killed on the 
24th April last. His age is said to have been just two 
years, and his dressed weight nine hundred and thirty 
pounds , exclusive of rough lard, which weighed forty 
pounds. The other was fattened by John Smiley, of 
Augusta, Me., and was killed on the 12th of April,'— 
“ being just ten months old to a day,” and its dressed 
weight was five hundred and six pounds. Mr. Smiley 
gives some facts in regard to the mode of fattening this 
pig, which are deserving attention, and we take the fol¬ 
lowing from the account in the paper referred to: 
The amount of food consumed in fourteen weeks, was 
seventeen bushels and twelve quarts of corn • and the 
gain in weight was two hundred and ninety-one pounds, 
being a small fraction less than three pounds per day on 
an average. Sometime between February 1st and Feb- 
ruary 15th, Mr. Smiley fed six quarts of molasses to his 
pig with his food. This destroyed his appetite, and for 
eight days following he ate but very little—perhaps not 
more than a pint a day—and in consequence, the gain 
for two weeks was only twelve pounds. From the 4th 
of December to the 1st of February, his food was ex¬ 
clusively boiled corn. After that, his food was princi¬ 
pally in the form of meal. For the last two months he 
ate about two quarts of charcoal daily. Mr. Smiley has 
been careful in weighing the pig and measuring bis food, 
and he holds himself ready to prove his statements by 
credible witnesses. He is of opinion that this’ pig, in 
four months, gained on an average, one hundred pounds 
of ! * round hog” per mouthy The following is Mr. Smi¬ 
ley’s statement of the live weight, gain, and amount of 
food consumed by his pig: 
Jan. 
4 , 
Live weight. 
278 pounds. 
330 “ 
Gain. 
Amount of food. 
Jam 
18, 
52 pounds. 
52 “ 
73 q’ts corn. 
Feb. ’ 
1 
382 
ee 
71 “ 
Feb. 
15; 
469 
ii 
87 “ 
119 “ 
March 
1 , 
481 
u 
12 “ 
36 
March 
29, 
557 
11 
76 “ 
196 “ 
April 
12 , 
569 
it 
12 “ 
61 “ 
The pig was not fed for about thirty-six hours before 
he was slaughtered. The difference between the live and 
dead weight is exhibited below: 
Dressed pig,. 506 pounds 
Rough fat, heart and midriff,. 23 “ 
Blood,. 13 “ 
Hair and intestines,. 27 “ 
Live weight,. 569 “ 
The clear pork weighed 262 pounds; the hams and 
shoulders 101; and the feet and upper part of the head, 
21 pounds. 
Ayrshire Cattle in Berkshire County, Mass. 
The report of the North Stockbridge Farmers’ Club, 
published in the Pittsfield Culturist, speaks of the intro 
duction of the Ayrshires into that section as follows: 
The Ayrshires have done well here. They are all 
that the most sanguine breeders could reasonably expect 
or hope for. Several years ago, we had among us an 
Ayrshire bull, imported by the State Agricultural So¬ 
ciety. His stock has proved good, and as milkers, much 
better than the natives. Five years ago, S. G. Ward. 
Esq., then of North Stockbridge, now resident in Bos¬ 
ton, imported an Ayrshire bull and heifer, carefully se¬ 
lected from the finest and choicest of that family. To 
the intelligence, disinterestedness, liberality and enter¬ 
prise of Mr. Ward, the farmers of North Stockbridge 
and Lenox are under obligations, which, though ade¬ 
quately appreciated, can never be fully discharged. We 
regret, most heartily, that he was constrained to with¬ 
draw from an occupation in which his head, his heart and 
his hands were actively employed with so much useful¬ 
ness to the farmers in his neighborhood. Of the supe¬ 
riority of Mr. Ward’s stock, there is no doubt. At 
our show of cattle at the Greenwood Farm in Lenox, 
where the best old and young were brought together and 
compared, the appearance of those derived from this 
stock evinced their decided superiority. Some allow¬ 
ance must always be made for the greater pains taken 
with a breed from which it isproposed to propagate, yet, 
there are points and marks of excellence, which good 
keeping cannot produce, nor bad keeping efface in a 
single generation—points which are apparent and mani¬ 
fest—good qalities which are lost rather by degenera¬ 
tion than temporary omission of due care,—which are 
