# Enquiry into Plants/Volume 1/Chapter 61

BOOK V
BOOK V
Of the Timber of various Trees and its Uses.
I. In like manner we must endeavour to speak of timber, saying of what nature is that of each tree, what is the right season for cutting it, which kinds are hard or easy to work, and anything else that belongs to such an enquiry.
Of the seasons of cutting.
Now these are the right seasons for cutting timber:—for 'round' timber and that whose bark is to be stripped the time is when the tree is coming into leaf. For then the bark is easily stripped (which process they call 'peeling') because of the moisture which forms beneath it. At a later time it is hard to strip, and the timber obtained is black and uncomely. However square logs can be cut after the time of peeling, since trimming with the axe removes the uncomeliness. In general any wood is at the best season as to strength when it has not merely ceased coming into leaf, but has even ripened its fruit; however on account of the bark-stripping it comes to pass that 'round' timber is in season when it is cut before it is ripe, so that, as it happens, the seasons are here reversed. Moreover the wood ​of the silver-fir is of a better colour at the time of the first peeling.
But since they strip the bark of hardly any trees except silver-fir fir and pine, these trees are cut in the spring; for then is the time of coming into leaf. Other trees are cut sometimes after wheat-harvest, sometimes after the vintage and the rising of Arcturus, as aria (holm-oak) elm maple manna-ash zygia beech lime Valonia oak, and in general all those whose timber is for underground use. The oak is cut latest of all, in early winter at the end of autumn.If it is cut at the time of peeling, it rots almost more quickly than at any other time, whether it has the bark on or not. This is especially so if it is cut during the first peeling, less so during the second, and least during the third. What is cut after the ripening of the fruit remains untouched by worms, even if it has not peeled: however worms get in under the bark and mark the surface of the stem, and such marked pieces of wood some use as seals. Oak-wood if cut in the right season does not rot and is remarkably free from worms, and its texture is hard and close like horn; for it is like the heart of a tree throughout, except that that of the kind called sea-bark oak is even at that time of poor quality.
Again, if the trees are cut at the time of coming into leaf, the result is the opposite of that which follows when they are cut after fruiting: for in the former case the trunks dry up and the trees do not sprout into leaf, whereas after the time of fruiting they sprout at the sides. At this season however ​they are harder to cut because the wood is tougher. It is also recommended to do the cutting when the moon has set, since then the wood is harder and less likely to rot. But, since the times when the fruit ripens are different for different trees, it is clear that the right moment for cutting also differs, being later for those trees which fruit later. Wherefore some try to define the time for the cutting of each tree; for instance for fir and silver-fir the time is, they say, when they begin to peel: for beech lime maple and zygia in autumn; for oak, as has been said, when autumn is past. Some however say that the fir is ripe for cutting in spring, when it has on it the thing called 'catkin,' and the pine when its 'cluster' is in bloom. Thus they distinguish which trees are ripe for cutting at various times; however it is clear that in all cases the wood is better when the tree is in its prime than when it is quite young or has grown old, the wood of quite young trees being too succulent, and that of old ones too full of mineral matter.
* ↑ Plin. 16. 188.
* ↑ cf. 3. 5. 1.
* ↑ δυσπεριαιρετός cong. Sch.; δυσπερικάθαρτος Ald.
* ↑ i.e. in practice the timber is cut before the ideally proper time.
* ↑ cf. 3. 5. 1.
* ↑ ἢ add. Sch.
* ↑ φηγός τε cong. Scal.; πηγός τε U; φηγόσιν τε V; πηγόσιν τε M Ald.
* ↑ κατορύττεται conj. Scj. from G; ὀρύττεται Ald. cf. 5. 4. 3; 5. 7. 5.
* ↑ Plin. 16. 189.
* ↑ cf. Ar. Thesm. 427: θριπήδεστα σφραγίδια.
* ↑ cf. 3. 8. 5.
* ↑ βλαστάνει M; παραβλαστάνει W. with Ald.
* ↑ αἱ add. Sch.
* ↑ ὑπολοπῶσιν conj. Sch.; εἰ πέλειν εἰσι U; ὑπελεινεισιν MV; ὑπελινῶσιν Ald.
* ↑ ταύτην conj. St.; καί τὴν Ald. H.
* ↑ cf. 1. 2. 2 n.; 3. 5. 5.
* ↑ i.e. the male inflorescence.
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