132 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORTCUI-TURAL SOCIETY. 



All the wood when sawn should be sorted in well understood 

 qualities, piled under cover, and oflFered out by accredited 

 agents, acting, if possible, for groups of mills in co-operation, 

 in printed specifications giving qualities and dimensions. 

 Kiln drying should also be introduced to save railway carriage 

 and interest on money. Kiln drying on a large scale is 

 almost universal in America, and it is now being introduced 

 into Sweden as well. I personally long for the day when it will 

 be universal, as we can then depend upon receiving wood in 

 good order. 



In Sundswall, this summer, I came alongside the premises of 

 a large exporter with a river front of about a quarter of a mile, 

 where not a piece of sawn wood was to be seen. The logs 

 were dragged up to the mill at one end, cut, kiln dried, 

 manufactured, and then piled close and ready for shipment 

 in another set of sheds at the other end. This without 

 doubt is ideal, and with such large amounts of sawdust going 

 to waste, more especially where water-driven mills are in use, 

 it is very easy of accomplishment. If all these details be 

 attended to, and if architects would only be less finical in 

 their demands, there is every reason to expect a splendid 

 future for the home-timber trade. The larch has qualities 

 that are unsurpassed. There is no fir that can hold a nail 

 like the Scots fir, and if it could only be grown a little cleaner 

 and with less sapwood, it also would be a wood hard to beat. 

 I have left to others the decision as to when and where to 

 plant, and all matters of fencing and distribution, and have 

 touched only on what I happen to know a little about. In 

 conclusion, I have no hesitation in saying that with care and 

 circumspection, aided by the country's common purse, a healthy 

 peasantry will arise, the fair face of our beautiful country will 

 become still fairer, new industries will be created, and all 

 surely to the nation's profit " when afforestation comes." 



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