HARDWOOD RECORD 



15 



Suggestions to Small SaW mill J\I en. 



SEVENTH PAPER. 



To the savvniill man \vli(i makes a specialty 

 of wagon and agricultural implement ma- 

 terial, this season of the year is a problem. 

 Practicallj' all institutions nsing stock of 

 this kind specify that it shall be cut after 

 the sap goes down in the fall and before it 

 rises in the spring; in other words, during 

 the summer season, from May 1 to Septem- 

 ber 1, oak and hickory for wagon and im- 

 plement purposes should not be cut. There 

 is reason for this and some logic in the re- 

 quirement, of course, but unfortunately the 

 logic and the millman's conditions do not 

 always harmonize. It is invariably true 

 that during the summer months millmen can 

 get more and better help and the roads are 

 always in more favorable condition for haul- 

 ing than in the winter; consequently, there 

 is a strong tendency to cut such stock iu 

 the summer. Moreover, quite a number of 

 millmen do this right along. 



There is no question but that it is best 

 to cut stock during the winter months, con- 

 sidering only the matter of quality of the 

 stock and the problem cf seasoning. Sum- 

 mer cut timber cheeks badly as well as 

 stains and is much more inviting for insects 

 than winter-cut, and the trade should seek 

 to do more cutting in the winter, even when 

 the roads are bad, and have the stock ready 

 to haul when they are good. A few may 

 do this, but generally when the small saw- 

 mil! man cuts timber he wants to get the 

 logs into the mill promptly and get them 

 worked up. He does not, as a rule, figure on 

 cutting them in the winter and sawing iu 

 the summer. 



However, notwithstanding the fact that 

 cutting timber during the winter has certain 

 elementary advantages, there is something 

 to be said favorable to summer cutting. 

 Hickory axle stock, for example; while 

 specifications always call for winter-cut 

 stock, there are not only large quantities 

 of it cut after the sap begins to rise, but 

 the cutting of it at that time offers certain 

 advantages, chief among which is that it 

 facilitates taking the bark off the log. 

 Hickoi-y bark is very difficult to remove, 

 and to keep saws sharp and do good work 

 the best thing to do before starting in to 

 saw a log is to chop off the bark with an 

 axe. In the early summer when the sap has 

 risen hickory timber can be cut and the 

 bark opened up and peeled off with com- 

 parative ease. Many have undoubtedly seen 

 hickory trees girdled and a section of the 

 bark peeled off in clearing for a new farm, 

 and have noted how the bark shelled off in 

 great sections. Stories about the Indians 

 making canoes of these hickory bark shells 

 are familiar to all. Thus it will be seen 

 that the early summer is a good time to cut 

 hickory, notwithstanding all that has been 

 and may be said to the contrary. The 



writer has seen it done many times aud has 

 known of numerous instances of such stock 

 being sold to people, who are sticklers for 

 winter-cut material, and being accepted 

 without question. 



However, there is one thing that should 

 not be overlooked in cutting hickory and 

 oak at this time of year — they must be pro- 

 tected from the sun. The best plan is to 

 keep them in a log pond, for as long as they 

 are in water they will be all right, and it 

 does not make a bit of difference when they 

 are cut. In this connection it may be well 

 to state that while practically all hickory 

 logs will sink with the bark on, many will 

 float if peeled. In the absence of a log pond 



PRINT 01' WATER ELM FOLIAGE, HALF 

 SIZE. 



for storing stock cut at this season, the best 

 thing to do is to work it up immediately 

 after it is cut. Recently one of the govern- 

 ment foresters showed the writer a picture 

 of a pile of fine oak logs which had laid in 

 the sun until the ends cracked so badly that 

 they were reduced in value about one-half. 

 This was a good illustration of how timber 

 is wasted through lack of consideration in 

 handling. 



Lumber from trees cut at this time of the 

 year requires more careful handling than if 

 cut and piled in the winter. In fact, check- 

 ing is so bad in some instances that the cull 

 loss is very heavy, and it seems almost 

 necessary to shut down the mill until fall. 

 This trouble can be remedied somewhat by 

 painting the ends of the logs and dipping 

 them in some of the various mixtures to 

 prevent the sap from drying out. Another 

 safeguard against cliei-king is to pile stock 



in the shade, where it is cool and compara- 

 tively damp. In a two-story mill, for ex- 

 ample, axles may be piled in the basement, 

 where they will be protected from the sua 

 and hot winds. By putting them up care- 

 fully on dry sticks they will check Viut very 

 little. If the same pile were put out in the 

 sun, no matter how carefully arranged, 

 much good material would be ruined as the 

 ends of the logs would crack open. This is 

 especially true in the South, where the sum- 

 mers are long and hot. 



A very important thing to guard against 

 in piling hickory stock is to be sure that it 

 is entirely free from bark. If there is just 

 the smallest piece of bark on an axle it may 

 lie assumed as a foregone conclusion that 

 by the time the axle is dry the sap part of 

 it will be full of worm holes. Old inspectors 

 of axles make it a point to look for bark 

 the first thing, and when they see a piece 

 of bark on the corner of an axle they throw 

 it out. When the bark is removed the out- 

 side dries out and becomes hard and shell- 

 like and is practically proof against worms, 

 which will bore their way in wherever there 

 is bark. In parts of the South there are 

 certain insects that get into hickory tim- 

 ber in spite of every effort, but that is a 

 different problem, and the first thing to do 

 under any circumstances as a preventive is 

 to strip the logs absolutely clean of bark. 

 In working oak, while there is not so much 

 trouble from insects, practically the same 

 logic holds good with regard to taking off 

 the bark, piling in a shed or protecting iu 

 some way from the hot winds and sun, the 

 idea being to retard the process of drying. 

 <'are should be taken, of course, not to pile 

 stock so close as to shut out the air so that 

 it is liable to mildew. 



Logs which are kept in water are thus 

 water-seasoned, so-called, and stock cut from 

 I hem does not check as badly or require as 

 much attention in handling as air-seasoned 

 stock. The water absorbs certain elements 

 of sap and the logs are practically the same 

 as winter-sawed. Thus it will be seen that 

 by exercising a little care it is not only pos- 

 sible but practicable to make wagon and 

 agricultural implement material throughout 

 the summer, and for all practical purposes it 

 is as good and will sell as well as winter- 

 cut stock. A little experimenting along this 

 line is good training, even for the man who 

 cuts wagon stock only in the winter and 

 spring, because it is in a direction that 

 needs more attention from lumbermen. Bet- 

 ter care of the lumber on hand should re- 

 place the present continual effort to increase 

 output. It is not the amount of timber cut, 

 but what is gotten out of it, that counts. 

 Experiment, study and attention in season- 

 ino- timber is worthy of consideration on 

 general principles, and it is especially im- 

 portant to the man who desires to cut wagon 

 and implement stock during the summer 

 months. 



