LOBLOLLY OR NORTH CAROLINA PINE. 51 



(crude turpentine) of loblolly pine is closely allied in all of its proper- 

 ties to that of the longleaf pine, but the volatile oil evaporates from it 

 veiy rapidly and consequently it is difficult to collect the material, as 

 much of it remains in the solid condition on the scarified face of the 

 tree. The relative proportions of volatile oil and resin are practically 

 the same in this material as in that of the longleaf pine, but the total 

 yield per season is much less from the loblolly or North Carolina pine. 

 The commercial value of this tree for tui*pentine is discussed on page 53. 



DEFECTS. 



The most common defects in the wood are extreme coarseness of grain, 

 lack of uniformity of texture, and large knots; pitch streaks and small 

 pitch pockets, which, however, affect the grade of less than one-half of 

 one per cent of the boards and are largely limited to butt logs; while 

 in second growth trees, especially those from the open stands in old fields, 

 there are large resinous, but tight knots. The wood is seldom affected 

 by windshake or hollows. Redheart occurs in less than five per cent 

 of the larger logs* and affects less than one per cent of the lumber which 

 is sawed from second growth trees less than 50 years old. The propor- 

 tion of redheart gradually increases with the age of the tree and is 

 higher in trees groAvn on poor than on good quality sites. 



The wood decays rapidly on exposure or in contact with the soil. 

 When kiln-dried or even thoroughly air-dried, the coarse grained and 

 more porous sapwood is readily impregnated with preservatives. The 

 two most common methods are creosoting under pressure and impreg- 

 nating with bichloride of zinc. The wood is attacked by several species 

 of wood-destroying fungi when it is exposed to suitable moisture condi- 

 tions, the sapwood being especially susceptible to such attacks. The 

 most prevalent and destructive of these fungi are Schizophyllum com- 

 mune, and the brown root, Lenzites sepiaria, which causes the rapid 

 decay of damp undried wood and is particularly destructive to ties, 

 piling, etc Merulius lacnmans and Coniopliora cereheUa are reported 

 as being destructive to large factory timbers, and Polyporus vaporius 

 to sills and flooring near the ground. Various species of Thelephoracew, 

 by attacking the sugar and starch in the cells of the sapwood, cause 

 bluing of undried lumber. While bluing does not affect the strength of 

 the wood, it lessens the value of sap lumber, which otherwise could be 

 used for finish in natural grain. Immersion of the lumber in a solution 

 of bicarbonate of soda in water prevent bluing, but it has been aban- 

 doned commercially where tried in favor of kiln drying. 



*The large proportion of redheart logs which are cut in certain swamps is from the pocoson or 

 black bark pine. 



