The felling of timber was looked upon by ancient architects as a matter of much moment. Vitru-vius was so minute in giving advice on this subject, as to urge that timber should never be felled but in the decrease of the moon; and we find good Isaac Ware saying of the suggestion (it being what he termed the opinion of the "Roman oracle"), "This has been laughed at, and supposed to be an imaginary advantage. . . . There may be good in following the practice; there can be no harm: and therefore, when I am to depend upon my timber, I will observe it." Sir John Evelyn quaintly says, "It should be in the vigor and perfection of trees that a felling should be celebrated."

'The end to be attained in the management of timber-trees is to produce, from a given number, the largest possible amount of sound and durable wood.

To accomplish this requires not only attention in felling the timber, but in caring for it afterwards. The first, and perhaps most important, advice is to fell a tree as near the time of its maturity as possible: for, if it be cut earlier, the sap-wood predominates; and, the heart-wood being comparatively soft, the timber cannot possess great strength or much durability. If permitted to stand long after this, it declines in quality; the wood by degrees losing its elasticity, and becoming brittle.

It is somewhat difficult to decide just when a tree is at maturity. From the investigations of naturalists, however, it may be safe to consider, that hard-wood trees, as oak and chestnut, should never be cut before they are sixty years old; the average age for felling being a hundred years. For the soft woods, - as spruce and pine, - the proper age is seventy years. It should be remembered, that the times mentioned are by no means arbitrary; for situation, soil, etc, have much to do with it.

When a tree, under conditions favorable to its growth, entirely ceases increasing the diameter of its trunk, and loses its foliage earlier in the autumn than it is wont to do, these facts may be considered as indications of decline, and that the tree is of sufficient age to be felled.

The next consideration is the season of the year most favorable for the work. All investigations tend to prove that the only proper time is that at which the tree contains the least sap. As stated in another article, there are two seasons in each year when the vessels are filled. One is in the spring, when the fluid is in motion to supply nutriment to the leaves, and deposit material for new wood: the other is in the early part of the autumn, when, after the stagnation which gives the new wood time to dry and harden, it again flows to make the vegetable deposits in the vessels of the wood. At neither of these times should trees be felled; for, if the pores be full of vegetable juices, - which, being acted upon by heat and moisture, may ferment, - the wood will decay.

In the New-England States, August is, for this purpose, the best month in the year; for, at that time, most of the fluids and vegetable matter having been exhausted in the formation of leaves and wood, and the watery parts evaporated, the wood is dryest. Next to this is the month of January; for then, as in August, there is but little sap in the tree.

The age at which trees should be felled, and the most suitable time for the work, having been determined, there are two other things which claim attention.

The first of these is the removal of the bark from the trunk and principal branches of the trees. This practice has, from time immemorial, been considered of inestimable value: for, bj it, the sap-wood is rendered as strong and durable as the heart-wood; and, in some particular instances, experiments have shown it to be four times as strong as other wood, in all respects similar, and grown on the same soil, but felled with the bark on, and dried in sheds.* Buffon, Du Hamel, and, in fact, most naturalists, have earnestly recommended the practice. The venerable Evelyn, in his "Sylvia," says, "To make excellent boards and planks, it is the advice of some, that you should bark your trees in a fit season, and so let them stand naked a full year before felling."

In regard to the time that should elapse between the removal of the bark and the felling of a tree, a variety of opinions exists. It was the usual custom of early architects to remove the bark in the spring, and fell the trees the succeeding winter.

* Emerson's "Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts," p. 33.

Later investigations have proved that it is better to perform this work three, or even four, years in advance, instead of one. Trees will, in most situations, continue to expand and leaf out for several seasons after the bark has been removed. The sap remaining in the wood gradually becomes hardened into woody substance; thereby closing the sap-vessels, and making it more solid. As bark separates freely from the wood in spring, while the sap is in motion, it should be taken off at that period.

The second suggestion is to cut into and around the entire trunk of the tree, near the roots, so that the sap may be discharged; for, in this manner, it will be done more easily than it can be by evaporation after the tree is felled. In addition to this, if it be permitted to run out at the incision, a large portion of the new and fermentable matter will pass out with it, which would remain in the wood if only such material is removed as would pass off by evaporation.

This cutting should be made in the winter previous to the August in which the tree is to be felled; and the incision should be made as deep into the heart-wood as possible, without inducing a premature fall of the tree.

Many suggestions might be made as regards the mechanical operation in felling trees: but, as these are familiar to all intelligent workmen, we will mention only one; namely, the value of removing from the side of the tree such branches as will strike the ground when it falls, and, by wrenching, cleave the grain of the wood, and thereby injure the timber. Such defects, which are often found after the timber has become seasoned, could not be discovered when it left the mill.