SECTION VIII
ADVANTAGES IN SEASONING
Three most important advantages of seasoning have already been made apparent:
1. Seasoned timber lasts much longer than unseasoned. Since the decay of timber is due to the attacks of wood-destroying fungi, and since the most important condition of the growth of these fungi is water, anything which lessens the amount of water in wood aids in its preservation.
2. In the case of treated timber, seasoning before treatment greatly increases the effectiveness of the ordinary methods of treatment, and seasoning after treatment prevents the rapid leaching out of the salts introduced to preserve the timber.
3. The saving in freight where timber is shipped from one place to another. Few persons realize how much water green wood contains, or how much it will lose in a comparatively short time. Experiments along this line with lodge-pole pine, white oak, and chestnut gave results which were a surprise to the companies owning the timber.
Freight charges vary considerably in different parts of the country; but a decrease of 35 to 40 per cent in weight is important enough to deserve everywhere serious consideration from those in charge of timber operations.
When timber is shipped long distances over several roads, as is coming to be more and more the case, the saving in freight will make a material difference in the cost of lumber operations, irrespective of any other advantages of seasoning.
Prevention of Checking and Splitting
Under present methods much timber is rendered unfit for use by improper seasoning. Green timber, particularly when cut during January, February, and March, when the roots are most active, contains a large amount of water. When exposed to the sun and wind or to high temperatures in a drying room, the water will evaporate more rapidly from the outer than from the inner parts of the piece, and more rapidly from the ends than from the sides. As the water evaporates, the wood shrinks, and when the shrinkage is not fairly uniform the wood cracks and splits.