S0RT1^'G CONVERTED MATERIAL. 297 



others. Spaces that cannot be otherwise stacked should be filled 

 in with broken pieces and small roots, but round pieces should 

 not be used for this purpose ; a stack of stump-wood should 

 contain nothing but pieces of stumps and roots. 



When the workman has raised the stack to nearly its proper 

 height, he should carefully measure it so that the proper height 

 may be attained, but not exceeded. To ensure this, it is often 

 necessary to finish the top of a stack of split billets with a 

 layer of round ones. 



Stacks should, if possible, be placed alongside one another in 

 long connected rows. This economises space, and secures the 

 stacks from being overturned. In case the firewood has to re- 

 main over winter in the forest, the long stacks are, if possible, 

 placed in parallel rows, wdth intervals between them narrower 

 than the length of the billets, and the topmost pieces are 

 arranged to form a complete roof over all the stacks. 



(c) Shrinkage. — As the green stacked wood shrinks while dry- 

 ing, and if not removed for sometime will lose its bark, in many 

 countries, such as Bavaria, Switzerland, &c., it has become 

 customary to increase the height of the stacks, so as to allow for 

 shrinkage. In Prussia and other German countries, this is 

 done only when there is a long interval between the stacking and 

 the sale of the firewood, but in Wiirttemberg and Hesse no 

 excess height is allowed. 



This excess height is as follows in different countries : — 



Prussia Tr-th of the regular height. 

 Bavaria iVth ,, 



Switzerland v;Vth ,, 



Considering that the shrinkage of the billets does not 

 depreciate the heating-power of the wood, and that its total 

 amount varies greatly according to circumstances, such as the 

 interval between stacking and sale, the species of wood, the 

 position of the stack, the degree of splitting, &c., and that no 

 excess is allowed for shrinkage in the case of timber, it is 

 advisable not to allow for it in firewood except where legal 

 rights to that eff"ect have arisen. It has also been proved by 

 Bohmerle* that there is scarcely any change after a year in the 



* Das waldtrockne Holz, Vienna. 1879. 



