April 10, 1010 



Sanitation of Lumber Yards 



The Forest Produets Laboratory at Madi.'on, Wis., has issued a 

 bulletin on the subject of ganitary eonditions iu lumber yards. It 

 deals with soundness of lumber and not the healthfiilnoss of the 

 workers. It is pointed out that decay or rot of wood is contagious 

 and that one rotten plank or post may contaminate a whole yard as 

 surely as one child with measles may infect a whole school. The 

 bulletin was jjrepared by G. J. Humphrey. After explaining that rot 

 is conveyed from unsound to sound wood by the scattering of spores, 

 which correspond to seeds, though much smaller, the bulletin proceeds 

 to explain how it happens and how to prevent it. 



Many lumher yards are very lax in keeping the premises free of 

 rotting debris which serves as a l)reeding ground for serious fungi, 

 and hence a constant source of infection for sound lumber. Other 

 dangerous sources of decay are: 



1. The rather common practice, particuliirly at sawmills in the of)astal 

 regions, of piling timber over swampy land, siibject to floods or tides, iir 

 so constantly wet as to malie it very difficult or impossible to keep down 

 the rank growth of weeds and grasses whicli cut off the air circulation 

 and prevent the proper drying ot the lumber. 



'2. IMliiiK sticks wliich arc thrown promiscuously about, or even piled 

 directly on tlie ground, and allowed to become infected. Very few yards 

 pay any attention to this important feature of sanitation. The almost 

 universal practice is to throw them on the groiind whenever stacks arc 

 thrown down, leaving them there until needed for new piles. 



3. Pile foundations ot timber which in the course of a few years be- 

 come diseased and produce many fungous fruit-bodies which release mil- 

 lions of fresti vigorous germs in the foi"ni of spores. Many foundations 

 do not permit of proper ventilation beuealh the jiiles, a condition which 

 often encourages severe decay in the base of the stacks l)y the gradual 

 progress of fungi upward from the ground or debris over whieh tin? 

 lumber is piled. 



4. Improper methods of stacking lumber, which do not provide for 

 suUiciently rapid drying. 



5. " Poorly constructed storage sheds, particularly with reference to in- 

 sufficient ventilation beneath. .\ considerable number of such slieds have 

 been investigated where very widespread and destructive outbreaks of 

 some of the most virulent fiingi with which the builder has to contend 

 occurred. 



6. Tramways and tracks about the yards which become severely in- 

 fected with decay and permit the development of an abundance of fungous 

 fruit-bodies and spores. This is of particular importance in the case 

 of elevated tramways from whicii the spores can be distributed for long 

 distances. 



To sum up, then, the sources of decay lie in allowing rotting debris 

 to accuuuilate, in allowing pile foundations, tramway timbers, track 

 ties and supports under lumber storage sheds to become infected, thus 

 passing the decay on directly to timbers which lie iu contact, or indi- 

 rectly to more distant timbers through the agency of spores. 



How TO Prevent Infection 



Since decay is due to the presence of wood-rotting fungi, the 

 obvious first principle is to render conditions about the hiuiber yard 

 unsuitable for the growth of the organisms. This can be accomplished 

 by attention to the following details: 



Wherever possible storage yards should be on high and dry land, 

 on mineral soil rather than filled-in debris. This will greatly simplify 

 the weed control problem and insure proper ventilation around the 

 base of the lumber stacks. Occasional wtttting and silting of lumber 

 by floods, tides and storm waves will almost invariably cause rot. 



In all cases weeds should be kept under control. This is frequently 

 ilone by pasturing or mowing. Chemical sprays offer possibilities in 

 this connection also. A concentrated solution of common salt (125 

 pounds per 52 -gallon barrel) is effective against a considerable number 

 of weeds if applied to the younger plants twice during the year at the 

 rate of one barrel per acre. A two and a half per cent solution of 

 sulphuric acid would be much better. 



The most careful attention should be given to cleaning up yards. 

 Rotten material should be thoroughly collected and burned. 



A piling stick infected with an actively growing wood-destroying 

 fungus can spread infection to any part of a pile of green lumber 

 where it may hai)peu to be placed, so the necessity for carefully 

 guarding these strips and keeping them from contact with the ground 

 is obvious. They should preferably be cut from heartwood of very 

 durable timber, such as resinous pine, red gum, white oak or similar 

 woods and dried before use. 



Timber should never be allowed to lie, even temporarily, in close 

 piles on the ground or on decayed tramways. 



A'ery often pile foundations are altogether too low or are poorly 



constructed, not allowing sufficient ventilation beneath the stacks. 

 The laying of a few planks on the ground parallel to the alleys does 

 not make a good pile support. In the first place, it allows circulation 

 in only one direction, and in the second place such a foundation is 

 usually two low. 



The decay of tramway tindiers can be overcome by treatment with 

 creosote or some other good wood preservative. 



A Good Sawyer Considerate of His Machine 



, A good saw3'er does not slam and bang things around. If he 

 is running a sawmill he doesn't back the carriage off from four 

 to six feet, taking a running .iump and shoot it at the saw; neither 

 does he let it go full tilt through the knots and easy places alike. 

 He starts the saw into the log carefully and easily so that there 

 is no ,iar nor ,ierk, and in going through the cut he eases up or 

 crowds according to the cut and how the saw is running. When 

 a man does that — not just now and then, but continuously and 

 easily throughout the day — and when in reversing his carriage 

 he runs it back and stops it at just the ri^it point without 

 wasting a lot of space gigging back and forth and jerking around, 

 then you can put it down that he is a good sawyer. 



In a different manner you can find some of the same traits in 

 a sawyer handling any kind of a rig from a small rip saw to a 

 band scroll saw. No matter what the difference in the size or 

 kind of work, there are certain things in common with all saws, 

 a certain manner of treatment in their handling that a good 

 sawyer finds easily and naturally, and just as naturally observes. 

 The man at the rip saw, for example, will not jam his stuff into 

 the saw suddenly and choke it down, but will observe the same 

 methods of feeding that a careful mill sawyer does. It is the 

 same way at the band scroll saw. The good sawyer does not put 

 tension on recklessly and with hard jerks, but carefully adjusts 

 his machine and his saw, looks after his guides and his table, 

 handles his work as if he had respect for it, and at the same time 

 handles it with greater ease. 



Daily record runs in sawmills are a test of machinery, but the 

 monthly statement is what tells the story as to the real capacity 

 of both men and machines. 



Legal Advantage of Trade Journal Advertising 



Manufacturers of trade marked products who are not extending 

 their trade throughout the country but who expect at some time to 

 do so, will find the following statement from a recent opinion of the 

 United States circuit court of appeals for the sixth district of special 

 interest, inasmuch as it shows that an innocent, though subsequent 

 appropriator, of the same mark in new territory may ac(|uire fhe ex- 

 clusive right to use it there, notwithstanding the originator's prior 

 use in other territory. 



There can be no absolute duty resting on one who adopts a trade- 

 mark to bring it at once to the attention of everybody. Such duty as 

 there may be in this direction must rest upon the obligation of the one 

 adopting to realize that, in the absence of a widespread knowledge of the 

 existence of his claim to the mark, others will be likely to adopt it and 

 spend their money in its promotion in their own interest. This obliga- 

 tion must be as variant in degree as are the circumstances ot each case 

 from those of another case ; but we cannot doubt that, under present-day 

 conditions, there are cases in wliich some measure of such obligation 

 does exist. Formerly, the number of competing traders in a given line — 

 and, hence, the probability that another would hit upon the same mark^ 

 was slight as compared to that number and that probability now; and 

 formerly the means by which a trade-mark owner could spread general 

 know^ledge of his claim were comparatively ineffective, and the trade 

 customs which now make it so much a matter of course for trade-marks 

 to be put l)efore the public the country over, were largely non-existent. 

 • * * From 18S3 until now, it has been true that a small expense In 

 trade journal advertising enables the trademark proprietor to put bis 

 article and its name before the entire trade ; and the custom of so doing 

 has been well-nigh universal. As business methods change, so change 

 the fact standards of reasonable prudence and care in guarding business 

 rights. 



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