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Show A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trees hap.XXX Chap. XXX, A Difourfe ofForelt-Trees, clesintheir branches decreafed from their Bodies tothe extreami: i : ty of thebranch, in fuch Occonomy and acral a pe ee th: oe ofthis year Anipam bee vous, than the Graft of two years growth3a may the next year have one Circle : more thanit i i had thelaft year5>5 25. The time of the searforthis deftructiy i C lytill about the end of April (at which feafon ruehattdoo monly rife freely ) thoughthe opinions and practife of men have been different Vitruvius ene is for an Autumnal advil smes ee :: eke : very fall 5 ot hers val fall; ‘ but this onely till that Branch thoot ee Grafts , an then ‘tis doubtful whether the outmoft trig obtain any more have firft born their fruit, pled. nottill Silene with that of the Archite! : And though Timber abarked nae ee or re- mate fay, onely noxrifbed , not anemeried inthe Coviqnias would alfo beinguir'd, whether the Circles of Pricks increafe not till Mid/ummer and after, and the Circles of Wood from thence, to the following Spring ¢ But this may fuffice, unlefle 1 fhould fub- joyn. ; ' 22, The vegetative motionof Plants, with the diagrams of the Jefuite Kercher, where he difcourfes of their ftupendious Adagne- ti/ms@c. could there any thing material be added to s already tbeenfo ingenioufly inquir’d into : therefore letwhatha us proceed to their Felling. 23. It fhouldbein this ftatus, vigour and perfect ion of Trees, thata Felling fhould be celebrated; fince whiles our Woods are growingitis pity, and indeed too foon; and whenthey are decay- ing, too late : Ido not pretend that a man ( who has occafion for Timber ) is obliged to attend fo many agesere hefell his Trees, but Ido a this infer,how highly neceflary it were,that menfhould perpetually be Planting ; that fo poferity might have Trees fit for their fervice of competent, thatis, of a middle growth and ages whichit is impoffible they fhould have, if we thus continue to deftroy our Woods,without this providential 1 Planting inr their ftead, and felling what we do cut down, with great difcretion, and re- gard of the future, : 24. Such therefore as we fhall perceive to decay are firlt to be pick'd out for the 4x3 and thenthofe which are in their {tate , or approachingto it ; but the very thriving, and manifeftly improving, indulg’d asmuchaspoflible. But to explore the goodnefs and fincerity of a ftanding-Tree,is notthe eafieft thing in the world; wefhall anon have occafion to mention my L. Bacon's Experiment to detect the hollowneffé of Timber ; But there is doubtlefle none more infallible, thanthe boring it with a middling Péercer made Auger fathion , and by frequent pulling out, and examini ng what fubftance comes along with it, as thofe who bore the Earth to explore what Afinerals the placeis impregn'd with, and as found Cheefes are tafted : Some again there are who by digging a little about the Roots will pronounce fhrewdly concerning the airee; andif theyfind him perifh’d at the top (for Trees ftate of dye upward as Mendo from the fect) be fure the caufe lies deep, for tis ever amarkof great decay inthe Reots. Thereis alfoa {welling Fein which dilcoversit felf eminently abovethe reft of the fren, though like the reft, invefted with barks , and which frequently circles about and embracesthe tree > like a branch of Ivy, which isan infallible indication of Hollownefé and hy pocrifi e within, 25. The deed 4 more obnoxious and pe to contract ee to the Worm fe sha oea ‘ fome : what aoa 0 y have commended thefea. ee. fince we thethe andmmohcubforts, fel and whenfind /ap wild beginsoak,a a eee e“ worm ; whereas, being cut sbout whatnot a ae nor twines ; becaufe the cold of the Winter folidate; whiles in fbring, and when pregn does both dryYs and con-con ant,; fo much ofof the viri tue goes into the /eaves and branches : Happy therefore wereit for our Timber , fome real Invention of Tann ing without fo much Bark (as the Honourable Mr. Charles Ho wardfc hasdetioee moft ingen offer'd ) were become univerfal, that Trees ioufly ak led, the Timber might be better feajon'd and condition‘d for its a rious és, But asthe cuftom is, .menbave noiredat ms fall chele Woods, even from Mid-minter to thefpring, but never ony of the Summer Solftice, 3 y atter 26. Then for the 4 1 : aa yor y= tne Age of the Aton, it has religioufly been obaes andsr eee prefidency in Sylvis was not fo muc h cele~ rated to credit the fi@ions of the Poets. a ini that a niet and : herinfluence over pon Timbone er : sFor s e my y part, I am not fo much inclin’d tothele Criticifizs ‘ overn.a Felling a afiBe OFB P e thi een : ents pate is doubtkede Pahafeeoesti n Lady; however . Noris’t in vain Sigws fall and rife to note, Mec fruftra fignorum obitws Speculamur, & ores. The O/d Rules are thefe : Fellin the decrea/é, or four dayesafter conjunion of the two great Luminaries, fome the laft quarter of it; or (as Pliny) in the very article of the change, if poflible; which hapning ( faith he ) inthelaft dayof the Winter Solftice , that Timber will prove immortal: At leaft fhould it be from the twentieth tothe thirtieth day, according to Columella : Cato four dayes after the Ful, as far better forthe growth : But all viminious Trees filente Lunds fuch as Saliies, Birch, Poplar, &c. Vegetins for Ship timber, from the Sifteenth to the twenty fifth , the Moon as befo re; but never during the Increafe,Trees bein g then moft abounding with moifture, which Is the onelyfource of putrefaction : And yet ’tis affirm’ d upon unqueltionable Experience, that Timber cut at any fea/ox of the year inthe O/d Afoon,or Jatt Quarter, when the Wind blows Wefterly ; proves as found, and good as at any other perjod whatfoever5 nay, all |
