68 
TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [chap. 
weight afforded by trees of equal ages, whether grown 
in forests or in open situations. Mr. Monteith states, in 
his “Planter’s Guide,” that— 
An Oak 40 years old yields, for every cubic 
foot of timber . 9 lbs. to 12 lbs. of bark. 
And if 80 to 100 years old yields, for every 
cubic foot of timber .10 lbs. to 16 lbs. ,, 
The question of the propriety of felling in the winter 
in preference to any other season is of considerable im¬ 
portance, and its bearing upon the durability or other¬ 
wise of the timber may be gathered from the following 
particulars, taken from a “ Treatise on Dry Rot,” by 
Ambrose Bowden. He states that— 
“The ‘Sovereign of the Seas,’ built at Woolwich in 
1635, was constructed of timber barked in the spring 
and felled in the succeeding winter, a strong conviction 
existing that such timber was superior to any other in 
point of durability. Forty-seven years later this ship 
was pulled to pieces and rebuilt, and the greater part of 
the materials were found to* be in sufficiently good 
condition for re-employment. 
“ The ‘ Royal William,’ built at Portsmouth in 1715 to 
1719, after being slightly repaired at three different 
times, was finally taken to pieces in August, 1813, after 
a service of ninety-four years. The extreme durability 
of this ship attracted much attention at the time, and it 
was believed that, having been built in close proximity 
to the New Forest, only winter-felled timber had been 
used in her construction. This is said to be borne out 
by the fact that the authorities at Portsmouth, about 
1717 or 1718, offered, as an encouragement for the 
delivery of winter-felled Oak timber to that yard, an 
