ii.] INDICATION OF HEAITHY STAFF. 
21 
headed.” If, therefore, we wish to select a healthy tree 
for felling, we must seek for one with an abundance of 
young shoots, and the topmost branches of which look 
strong, pointed, and vigorous, this being the most certain 
evidence that it has not yet passed maturity. 
Timber trees, immediately after they are felled, 
unless they have been previously killed, contain a great 
deal of moisture, and are, therefore, unfit for use until 
they have been somewhat seasoned. This is accom¬ 
plished in a variety of ways, but the primitive and best 
mode is, probably, to leave it for a time protected from 
the weather, following as closely as possible the natural 
process, which consists simply of the gradual drying 
up, or evaporation, of this moisture, which would other¬ 
wise form the first elements of decay. Of the time 
required for seasoning, and the various means of accom¬ 
plishing it, I shall have occasion to notice farther on ; 
suffice it to say at present, that as the wood which needs 
the least seasoning is generally found to be the most 
durable, it becomes an essential point that trees should 
be felled during the winter months, when the sap is 
present in its smallest quantity. 
