IT is impossible to construct sound and durable work, if the material employed be green or unseasoned: the firmest joints that can be made will part, and the entire fabric become distorted and worthless. The practical carpenter is well aware of this, and if he be wise and value his reputation, he will spare no pains to insure the complete seasoning of his timber.

The winter is the usual season for felling timber, at which time the wood is less copiously charged with sap, owing to the circulation being almost entirely checked by the cold. After the trunk is cut down, it is allowed to remain untouched for a few months, but it should be sheltered from the direct influence of the sun, otherwise the exposed parts are liable to become shaken or cracked. The next stage in the seasoning commences after the trunk is sawn into planks, which, being comparatively thin, and presenting two sides to the atmosphere, materially hasten the process. While in the entire form, the evaporation of moisture from the wood could only proceed slowly, consequently the planks still contain much sap.

The planks are now formed into a stack, which must be raised a few feet from the ground, and especial care must be taken to keep the wood from actual contact, by inserting narrow strips between the ends of the planks, and also at distances of about eight feet apart. By this arrangement a free circulation of air is insured, and the seasoning is favourably and expeditiously accomplished.

Even timber in the stack is not entirely free from the ravages of the "shake," which will attack the ends of the planks; and the uppermost layer, which serves as a roof to the remainder, is frequently almost destroyed by the changes from wet to dry.

Thin planks, if judiciously stacked, will generally season in about eighteen months, but thick pieces require a much longer exposure. The timber must not be employed for works of importance immediately on its removal from the stack. The carpenter places several planks in racks, which retain them in a vertical position near his shop, and shortly before "working the stuff" he removes it inside the house to insure its complete seasoning.

If the seasoning be carried forward too rapidly, or is forced by subjecting the material to the direct influence of the fire, it is deprived of its toughness and elasticity; or, as the carpenter would say, "the nature has been taken out of it." If the timber is to be durable, the seasoning must be gradual and complete.

Though the wood may have been thoroughly seasoned, it is impossible to guard against the effects of change of temperature, and the liability to reabsorb moisture, if placed in a damp situation. On again becoming dry, the plank will probably no longer retain its former shape, but be more or less twisted or "in winding" which is a peculiar spiral twist, running through it in the direction of its length, so that if the board were laid on the bench, it would rest on two cross corners, on which it would rock.

Straight-grained woods are not subjected to any considerable change in the lengthway of the grain, but a distortion, called "warping," is very prevalent in the soft, as well as in the hard, varieties in the cross directions. Thin boards are sometimes curved like a bow in their cross sections. The joiner restores them to their original condition by ranging them round the shop, with the convex sides towards the fire, which, by evaporating the moisture, will cause the fibres of the wood to contract, and so bringit to its proper shape. The wood must not be too long exposed to the fire, or the remedy will be as bad or worse than the disease, as the board will become concave on the side next to the heat, and convex on the other, thus reversing, instead of removing, the evil. This may be avoided by frequently changing the sides when the boards have become flat, in order to air them equally.

Sometimes, when the wood is too much distorted to yield to the last-mentioned treatment, the joiner warms it equally on both sides to lessen its rigidity, and bends it as straight as he can by his hands. If the stuff will not retain the required shape, it must be again warmed, and placed between two stout planks, which are drawn closely together by handscrews.

If the plank to be wrought be too thick to admit of correction by the means just described, the prominences must be removed by the plane. No considerable distortion is to be feared in the straight-grained woods, such as pine and mahogany, provided the seasoning has been properly conducted. The finely-figured woods, which chiefly owe their beauty to the great irregularity of the grain, would be very liable to twist and warp, if employed in the same way as the straight-grained description. The handsomely-marked woods are too costly to admit of their being used of sufficient thickness for the top of a table, the sides of a box, or any similar article. The wood is therefore cut into very thin slices, called veneer, which is glued on the plain wood of which the fabric is constructed.

The amateur should always keep a stock of well-seasoned wood in his shop, and should never use material which has lately been taken from the carpenter's rack.

When choosing his woods, the amateur must be careful to select "clean stuff" free from knots, shakes, and doats. "Doats" are black stains, occasioned by the confined sap which has not evaporated, owing to the planks having rested in contact during their seasoning in the stack.

Pine, also commonly called Deal, is very largely employed in house-carpentry and other works. It is very clean and straight in grain, of a light colour, and easily wrought. The colour is much influenced by the quantity of resinous matter or turpentine contained in its pores, which imparts either a red or yellow tinge to the wood, from which peculiarity has arisen the distinctive titles of red and yellow deals.

Spruce is of the same family, but of inferior quality. It is of a harder nature and whiter colour, and, owing to the knots with which it abounds, is seldom employed for any except the commonest purposes. These woods are natives of cold countries, where they thrive the best. Our largest supplies of this valuable timber are exported from Norway, Baltic Port, Memel, Riga, and Dantzic.