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Girdling typically cuts into the wood about 1 1/2 inches deep, and about 2 or more inches vertically. If you make a narrow cut with a bowsaw it may not be enough to keep the tree from healing itself before it dies. Almost the entire trunk of the tree inside the bark contains vessels which are capable of transporting water. Over time the vessels closer to the center clog up and no longer transport water. This area is called the heartwood, and can usually be identified once the tree is cut as it often has a darker color. The outer portion of the trunk is the sapwood and this is where most of the water flows. So, the deeper you cut through the sapwood, the more you cut off the water flow. Once the leaves die there is really no outlet for water moving up the tree and the water flow stops.

One of the primary functions of bark, just like skin, is to keep water inside. It can take a couple of years for bark to begin sloughing off a standing tree. The more heartwood you expose to the air the faster it will dry.

Firewood dries fastest when cut up and split, for maximum air circulation. OTOH, you don't want it drying out too much: wood that's been piled outdoors for two years burns so fast, we have to keep stoking the stove continuously, rather than be able to damp it down for a long smoulder. The best firewood we get is maple that's been cut up to 18"X10" max and seasoned from 6 months to a year. If you want it for carving wood, the seasoning time is shorter, average an 6 weeks: when completely dry, it's too hard for hand-carving, but better for power carving; carve when green and it dries unevenly, and cracks. For cabinetry, the optimal method of seasoning is to saw the green debarked lumber (sawmills normally spray their logs with water) into boards along the grain, stack them on an even surface with slats between layers to allow air circulation, and seal the cut ends. They should dry for one full year or longer, during which time, it's a good idea to restack the boards in a different orientation, to stop warping. We have some dead elms still standing after a couple of years, and they're hard as steel. They'd make a good raft or scaffolding, but a devil to cut. The other danger to standing dead trees is bird and insect damage. If the termites move in, you might not get any use out of the wood.

"Better late than never".. But it is half-done achievement. Video of the explosion (download/rerecord by a desktop recording app such as VirtualDub) https://t.me/bazabazon/13718

Well thanks, but not the best argument/rebuttal. I enjoyed it... 😉

Have we failed? Lead water pipes are removed nowadays (unless safely passivated by hard water deposits, as in my house), lead is no longer in petrol, Hg in seafood is a recognised issue and in consequence is not generally a problem........ I think it's a mistake to tot up the various past practices that we now recognise to be risky and label them as "failures", when actually they are successes, in that we've learnt to stop them. But your question remains a valid one in principle, of course. Let's see what the biologists have to say.