SELLING LUMBER 



73 



the average, it must have at least one-half summer wood to class 

 as dense yellow pine. In fact, under that classification probably 

 95 per cent or more of the timber which will fall in that grade 

 will belong to the long leaf variety, and a comparatively small 

 percentage of short leaf will be represented. The builder of the 

 house, however, doesn't care whether it is short leaf or long leaf 

 or loblolly. He wants a strong stick. Now, any piece which does 

 not come within that, is a piece which is secondarily fitted. 



Now that density rule applies specifically to strength. It has, 

 so far as we know, nothing to do with the lasting power. Last- 

 ing power is taken care of by the percentage of heart and sap 

 wood. And that brings me to the next point, the question of de- 

 cay. A pine tree growing in the woods up to its seventieth or 

 eightieth year, possibly a little longer, is usually free from any kind 

 of diseases or defects. After the period mentioned, that is, after 

 about the seventieth year, and then it may run up to the 150th, in 

 some instances, it is subject to one or two defects using a broad 

 classification a defect which starts in the top of the tree in the 

 heart wood and goes down, and another which starts at the root 

 in the heart wood and grows up. Of those two defects, the top 

 one is usually known as red heart, or dote disease, manifested by 

 red discoloration of the wood, and later on by little white pockets. 

 The bottom rot is manifested by discolorations of the heart wood 

 and ultimate decay. The wood will then crumble into fine powder 

 in your fingers. Now, those two types of disease are caused by 

 fungi growing in the trees. Their growth stops absolutely when 

 the tree has once been cut. In other words, the red heart disease 

 stops the minute the tree is felled ; it does not continue in the manu- 

 factured lumber. On the other hand, after the lumber has once . 

 been cut, there is a host of different organisms, both insect and 

 fungus, that start to grow in that wood, and as a result causes 

 what we call dry rot, moist rot, black rot, and all sorts of decay, 

 which, however, from a practical viewpoint, have absolutely no 

 significance. They don't mean anything. This type of decay first 

 occurs in the sap wood. In other words, if you cut off all of the 

 sap wood, the length of life of the heart wood would be fifteen, 

 eighteen, twenty or more years, depending on the location. Blue 

 stain is caused by a fungus, the spores of which will germinate 

 on a pine board within a few hours after it is put in the pile, and 

 grows with astonishing rapidity, but it does not affect the fiber. 

 In other words, the blue stain does not in the slightest degree weak- 



Density Rule 



Measures 



Strength 



Diseases 

 That Attack 

 Trees and 

 Lumber 



