120 



Forest Club Annual 



Judging from these figures it is not to be wondered at that dry 

 kilns play such an important part in the lumber industry of the 

 Northwest. 



It is quite interesting to observe the process of preparing 

 the lumber for the kiln. All the lumber, except larger sizes three 

 or four inches thick, are stacked vertically, that is, on edge. The 

 advantage of piling in this manner lies in the fact that it per- 

 mits of a free circulation of the air. Heated air has a tendency 

 to move upward in place of outward which must happen when 

 the air space is horizontal. Special machinery has been in- 

 stalled. 



Lumber on sorting table before being placed in troughs for the stackers. 

 Grays Harbor Commercial Co. Saw Mill, Cosmopolis, Washington. 



The lumber is taken from the mill by means of three chains, 

 arranged in parallels, up an incline and deposited on a sorting 

 table. Here it is fed vertically into troughs, 12 inches deep, of 

 which there are seven in number for seven different classes of 

 material, and conveyed by a succession of live rollers to seven 

 different stacker tables. The stackers work in pairs and drop 

 the boards between the three stationary upright posts and three 

 I-beams, 9 feet 3 inches long, placed in sockets in three single 

 trucks. The trucks are made by placing together two channel 

 4 inch bars, 6Vi> feet long, with a 3^4 mcn space between. This 

 gives room for the two 6 inch wheels placed one near each end. 

 Rails upon which the three trucks are placed are 6% feet apart. 



As the tier is filled, which is usually to the height of 8Vi> 



