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' In Yne Spring Sealon and some time after, All Trees are Pregnant and Ipendthemsclves (as Anlmals do in theil- Respective Ost-Springs) in the productionof Leavcs and Fruits, and so becomc weaker than at other times in the Year -their Gtvicies and Porcs being theil Turgid with Juices or Sap, which ( theTrees being Fellcd at that time) still Rcmain in the Pores, having no man-ner of Means of being otherwiso Spent, and there Putrifie ; not only lea-ving the Tree füll of thole Cavities which render the Timber Weak; but Se-condly Breeding a Worm, as both Pliny and Mr. Evelyn Testifie, that willlb exceedingly prejudice it, that it bccomes altogether unfit for strong In-cumbencies, or other Robust Ules. ihirdly, All Timber Fellcd at this time ofthe Year, whether the Juices Putrifie, or otherwiso sweat sorth, or Dry away,is not only Subject to RJft and Gape, but will Shrink. so considerably, thata Piece of stich Timber of a Foot Square will usoally Shrink. in the Breadth4 of an Inch ; than which, läys Vegetius, nothing is more Pernicious if usedfor the Building of Ships. To which, F ourthly, the First and Greatest RomanEmperour Julius Casar adds, that though Ships may be made of stich moistTimber Felled in the Spring, yet they will certainly be Sluggs, not near sogood Saliers as Ships made of Timber Felled later in the Year.

In all which Circumstances I find most of the Ancicnts so very well agree,that none of them advife the Felling of Timber for any fort of Ufe beforeAutumn at soonest; others, not till the Trees have born their Fruit, whichliys Theophrastus, must always be proportionably later, as their Fruits are Ripelater in the Year j A third Sort, not till Mid-winter : not till 'Soveinher laysPalladius, nay not till the Winter Solftice säys the wife Cato ; and then too in theDccrease or fVane of the Moon, between the i qth and xyd. day of her Agcfays Vegetius , or rather according to Collumella between the roth and theNew Moon. In general, lays Thcoprhaftus, the Oak. must be Felled very latein the Winter, not till December, as the Emperor Constantinus Pogonatus poli-tively aflerts, the Moon too being then under the Earth, as ’tis for the mostpart in the Day time in the first part of its Dccrease. And the Felling of Oak.within thole Limits, they call Tempestiva Casura, Felling Timber in Sealon,which they all unanimoufly pronounce (if thus Felled ) will neither Shrink jWarp nor Cleave, nor admit of Dccay, in many Years; it being tough asHorn, and the Whole Tree in a manner ( as Theophrastus aflerts ) as hard andfirm as the Heart ; with whom also agrees our Country-man Mr. Evelyn, ifyou Fell not Oak. (lays he) till the Sap is in Repose, as ’tis commonly aboutNovember and December, after the Frost has well Nipped them, the verySaplings thus cut, will continue without Decay, as long as the Heart of theT ree.

And the Reason of this is given in fliort by Vitruvius , quia aeris Hybernivis comprimit (3 consolidat Arbores, becaufe the Winter Air doth dole the Poresand so consequently consolidates ali Trees, by which means the Oak. (ashe and Pliny both exprels it) will acquire a sort of Eternity in its Duration ;and much more will it so, if it be Bark. t in the Spring , and lest standing allthe Summer, exposed to the Sun and Wind, as is usoal in St affor djhirc, and theAdjacent Counties, whereby they find by long Experience the T 'runkj of

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