Best chance of limiting green mallet with pith splitting

[TomTrees]

Hi folks
Just seen a few wee cracks form on this mallet which was turned from this green shrub recently.
I can get you the name of the species at a later date.
It was cut down about six months ago and is lovely to turn
No smell or oils and no pores, also it is very heavy and sinks in water so far.

I have put in a 2 liter bottle with the top cut open, and it has drank some and now the end grain is exposed to the atmosphere...
Would this be a good attempt at reducing this mallet cracking, as maybe the inside could still
have a small chance of drying out, while the outside is still hydrated.
Could this method be tried along with some other methods to get this mallet to stay in one piece?


Thanks for reading
Tom