THE PREl'AUATOU WITH IJOLLEK-BEARING DOOR CLOSED. 

 CONTAINING LUMBER 



THE DOOR THROWN OPEN READY TO DISCHARGE THE TRUCK 

 OF LUMBER 



\ < ;;M!;ita»5tia«aa}TOMmatTOi;K;kJiiWia.u^^ 



^ Evolution in Lumber Seasoning 



Hakdwood Record has i-epeatedly given utterance to the state- 

 ment, which has seemed revolutionary to some, that usually 

 there was such an absolute deficiency in scientific methods of lum- 

 ber handling from the tail of the mill to its eventual loading on 

 cars as to constitute a shining example of commercial inefficiency. 

 Since hardwood lumber operations became an important commer- 

 cial pursuit, there has been no improvement looking to decreased 

 cost, or the better preparation of lumber for the market than has 

 been employed for centuries in the handling of soft woods, and 

 in many instances the building wood producers have attained a 

 higher efliciency than has ever been accomplished in hardwood 

 operations. 



Generally speaking, the handling of lumber from the tail of the 

 mill to its eventual shipment has been a case of "main strength 

 and awkwardness. ' ' The lumber has been roughly assorted at 

 the mill; has been loaded on trucks or wagons; has been hauled 

 to yard and piled, and often replied; has been taken down out 

 of the piles; regraded, the outs reinspected and placed on other 

 piles, and eventually the lumber has been loaded on to cars many 

 months after it was produced. . 



Hardwood lumber seasons slowly, and every day added to the 

 seasoning process develops more defects. Not infrequently there 

 is fifty per cent degrade from green hardwood lumber before it 

 is finally shipped dry, and much of this degrade comes from de- 



fects developed in the old-fashioned seasoning process. Efforts 

 to eliminate this tremendous loss have been a subject of serious 

 consideration by many astute lumbermen for years, but say what 

 you please, but little has been accomplished up to this time. 



In issue of Hakdwood Eecord of August 10, 1910, was de- 

 scribed a process of steaming lumber under a moderate steam 

 pressure, by means of which it could be put in the best possible 

 shape for prompt seasoning in the air, or for supplemental kiln- 

 drjring in the event the eventual users deemed it necessary. This 

 article on the Kraetzer process attracted so much attention, and 

 so numerous were the inquiries for the story that it was necessary 

 to reprint it in a later number of the publication. In this article 

 it was asserted that to attain a common sense view of the sub- 

 ject involved, a demonstration of what had to be accomplished to 

 prepare lumber for prompt seasoning was necessary. It was stated 

 that primarily, it must be recalled that the moisture in green lum- 

 ber amounts to from twenty-five to sixty per cent of its total 

 weight; green wood containing varying percentages of different 

 substances — water, albumen, tannic acid, sugar, starch, resin or 

 other matter; and that the remaining portion of a material — the 

 only portion of commercial value — is the wood fiber or cellulose. 



It has been a well-established fact for years that water soak- 

 ing, steaming under pressure, or even superficial steaming of lum- 

 ber, in no wise impair its strength or any other valuable qualities, 



A TRUCK LOAD OF LUMBER ON THE TRANSFER TRUCK AFTER 



STEAMING 



GENERAL PLAN OF TRANSFER TRACKS EMPLOYED BY 

 RUSSE & BURGESS, INC., MEMPHIS 



29 



