spring, cutting them in May and June. I trimmed the poles, leaving them
upon the ground, and when seasoned hauled them to the house for fuel, and
found that for cooking or heating purposes they were almost equal to oak;
and it was my practice for many years afterward to cut these young pines in
May or June for winter fuel.

I found also that the stumps, instead of remaining sound for any length of
time, decayed so quickly that they could all be plowed up the following
spring.

From which facts I draw these conclusions: that if in the cutting of timber
the main object is to preserve the stumps, cut your trees in the fall or
winter; but if the value of the timber is any consideration, cut your trees
in the spring after the sap has ascended the tree, but before any growth
has taken place or new wood has been formed.

I experimented for many years also in the cutting of timber for fencing,
fence posts, etc., and with the same results. Those which were cut in the
spring and set after being seasoned were the most durable, such timber
being much lighter, tougher, and in all respects better for all variety of
purposes.

Having given some little idea of the manner in which I experimented, and
the conclusions arrived at as to the proper time when timber should be cut,
I now propose to give what are, in my opinion, the reasons why timber cut
in early summer is much better, being lighter, tougher and more durable
than if cut at any other time. Therefore, in order to do this it is
necessary first to explain the nature and value of the sap and the growth
of a tree.

We find it to be the general opinion at present, as it perhaps has always
been among lumbermen and those who work among timber, that the sap of a
tree is an evil which must be avoided if possible, for it is this which
causes decay and destroys the life and good qualities of all wood when
allowed to remain in it for an unusual length of time, but that this is a
mistaken idea I will endeavor to show, not that the decay is due to the
sap, but to the time when the tree was felled.

We find by experiment in evaporating a quantity of sap of the pine, that it
is water holding in solution a substance of a gummy nature, being composed
of albumen and other elementary matters, which is deposited within the
pores of the wood from the new growth of the tree; that these substances in
solution, which constitute the sap, and which promote the growth of the
tree, should have a tend