Richard Jagels
In this cross-section of hemlock, the bottom band of growth shows a wide segment of earlywood. The ring at the top of the photo has a narrower region of earlywood. Yet the latewood, which is stronger in softwoods such as this, remains relatively constant in each band. In narrow-ring, old-growth trees, which have a higher ratio of latewood to earlywood, such trees yield stronger wood.
We’ve all heard someone say, “the sap is rising” or “the sap is down,” suggesting seasonal filling and draining of the sap in tree stems. In truth, the sap, or water content, is never up or down but instead is constantly present in living trees. Yet my neighbor is always primed to cut his firewood trees in winter, when he believes the moisture content is lowest because the sap has returned to the roots.