Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-12-24

Cutting and Seasoning Timber.
Although it is almost the universal custom
to go into the woods to cut timber, whenever
it can be done to the best advantage, with
out for u moment considering its keeping
qualities, every observing person knows that
the durability of timber depends very much
on the season of year that it is cut Careful
experiments prove that timber cut in the
spring of the year will not keep as well as
that cut in August Pine timber cut in Feb
ruary and March is much more liable to be-
come worm eaten than that cut in autumn.
Gray birch cut in March never seasons rs
well as if cut in August when used for fire
wood, if cut the last Of August or early in
September, it makes wood that is equal to
maple, but if cut in March it is so full of wa
ter that it is very difficult to season it before
it begins to decay, unless it is sawed into
short pieces and split, and even then it never
appears to give as much heat as if cut in the
autumn; when cut in September, without
much care, it will dry enough by the first of
January to burn freely. 1t is believed by
some that timber cut in the autumn is better,
because it is not rs full of sap MS if cut in the
spring this is probably one reason, but there
is another reason which is not usually alluded
to, which is, if cut in autumn it is not Affect
ed by the heat the same as if cut in the
spring, for if cut, even in hot weather in Au-
gust before the wood gets very much dried,
the cool winds of October come and it is
dried more by cool than hot air.
Timber cut in March is partially dried be-
fore hot weather comes, and is in tust the
right state, when the sultry days of summer
come, TO encourage decay, if surrounded by
heat and moisture for this reason if no
more sap was in the wood in the spring than
in the autumn it would be best to cut timber
in the autumn but when we consider that
all kinds of wood are filled with much larger
quantity of sap in the spring than in the
autumn, it must be evident to every one
that, for durability it is much the best to cut
timber in the autumn. 1t is very true that it
is not always convenient to cut so early rs
September, and the weather is frequently so
hot MS to make it very uncomfortable to work
in the woods, therefore but little timber is
cut so early If we cannot get ready to go
into the woods until after thanksgiving it is
much better to cut in December and January
than later in the season. Timber to be used
where it is important TO have it durable,
should never be cut later than January, espe-
cially pine, maple and birch.
Farmers who cut but small quantity
each year can easily manage to cut in the au-
tumn, or early in the winter; but those who
follow no other business but numbering will
pay but little attention to the keeping quail
ties of timber, well knowing that purchasers
will not inquire what month it was cut in,
and will pay just rs much for timber cut in
March as in September; if the quality of the
lumber is good and it is well sawed it ia all
that is required no one looks forward to the
time when the building is to be repaired and
portion of it new tmbered, because it was
not all cut at the same season of the year in
fact, even when building comes to repairs,
but few connect the fact that portion OF the
timbers have decayed because cut at the
wrong season of the year, yet this is often
the case, though not always sometimes one
end of a stick of timber decays by reason of
moisture, while the other end, by being kept
dry is perfectly sound; but there are fire.
quently cases where two sticks of timber with
the same surroundings, will show great
difference in their durability, which is un-
doubtedly caused by the fact that they were
cut at different seasons of the year.
The methods to be adopted to season tim
Der must depend in a measure on the partic-
ular qualities it is desired to secure if, as is
often the case with pine timber, it is desira-
BILE to season it so that it will be soft and ca
sy to work, and the strength of it is of no
consequence, it should be kept over winter
in the log and sawed in the spring, then piled
up in manner to secure as much air as pos
sap out but if it is desirable to have the
wood hard as possible it should be sawed il
the autumn and dried very gradually. Wal
nut timber for handles and other purposes
that require great strength should be split in
large pieces and housed where the atmos-
phere is cool; many believe it is better to be
two years in drying walnut and white oak,
that is to be used for purposes that require
great strength. Wood that it is desired to
make tough and elastic should be dried very
slowly, and at the same time care should be
taken to dry it fast enough 50 10 will not be-
gin to decay. The red maple is a wood that
if properly managed can be made very tough
and kept perfectly white to cut it and keep
it in short logs over summer destroys its
Wilderness and elasticity; to saw the logs in
the spring and stack the lumber out in the
rain and air. also destroys its strength and
frequently its wilderness. The most certain
way to keep the red maple and preserve its
wilderness and strength il to cut the tree in
autumn, trim the limbs off aud leave the
trunk the entire length for n year, when it
may be sawed and dried under cover by
this treatment it can be seasoned perfectly
white and very tough. The strength of some
kinds of wood can be increased by girdling
the trees and letting them die and season on
the stump. An oak, maple or apple tree,
that has naturally died on the stump is very
hard to cut; but birch or poplar that dies
in this way usually decays and is not of any
value even for fire wood.
The durability and strength of timber de-
ponds somewhat on its age as well as the
manner of seasoning. There is period
when tree arrives at its greatest perfection,
after which it begins to decay, although it
may not show any outward sign of it, The
pine and the white ash and many other kinds
Of trees until near their full growth, have
the strongest wood near the ground, but af-
ter having passed full perfection change
takes place, and decay commences at the
the heart of the tree near the ground the
decay once commenced gradually extends
towards the outer surface of the tree in
time the tree is hollow, and year by year the
living rim grows less, until at last it is so thin
that it cannot support the tree and it falls to
the ground, with trunk that has the strong
est wood at the top.
Farmers who cut their own fence posts
should cut them before they have passed their
full vigor, and at that season of the year
when they have the least sap in them, being
careful to season well before setting; green
posts should never be set if it is possible to
avoid it.-PLOughman.