Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/275

Rh coffee in tin cups, and plenty of biscuit. Every man seemed hungry and happy, and the conversation assumed the most humorous character. The sun now rose above the trees, and all, excepting the cook, proceeded to the hummock, on which I had been gazing with great delight, as it promised rare sport. My host, I found, was the chief of the party ; and although he also had an axe, he made no other use of it than for strip- ping here and there pieces of bark from certain trees which he considered of doubtful soundness. He was not only well versed in his profession, but generally intelligent, and from him I received the following account, which I noted at the time.

The men who are employed in cutting the live oak, after having dis- covered a good hummock, build shantees of small logs, to retire to at night, and feed in by day. Their provisions consist of beef, pork, pota- toes, biscuit, flour, rice, and fish, together with excellent whisky. They are mostly hale, strong, and active men, from the eastern parts of the Union, and receive excellent wages, according to their different abihties. Their labours are only of a few months' duration. Such hummocks as are found near navigable streams are first chosen, and when it is abso- lutely necessary, the timber is sometimes hauled five or six miles to the nearest water-course, where, although it sinks, it can, with comparative ease, be shipped to its destination. The best time for cutting the live oak is considered to be from the first of December to the beginning of March, or while the sap is completely down. When the sap is flowing, the tree is " bloom," and more apt to be " shaken." The white-rot, which occurs so frequently in the live-oak, and is perceptible only by the best judges, consists of round spots, about an inch and a half in dia- meter, on the outside of the bark, through which, at that spot, a hard stick may be driven sevei'al inches, and generally follows the heart up or down the trunk of the tree. So deceiving are these spots and trees to persons unacquainted with this defect, that thousands of trees are cut and afterwards abandoned. The great number of trees of this sort strewn in the woods would tend to make a stranger believe that there is much more good oak in the country than there really is ; and perhaps, in reality, not more than one-fourth of the quantity usually reported, is to be pro- cured.

The Live-oakers generally revisit their distant homes in the Middle and Eastern Districts, where they spend the summer, returning to the