VARIOUS METHODS OF SEASONING. 85 



seasoning, and it must be remembered that foreign timbers have 

 often had some weeks or months of such treatment while being 

 transported by water to the port of shipment. It is important 

 that wood seasoned in this way be thoroughly dried before use, 

 otherwise dry rot will set in. In Mauritius, Ebony, which is 

 perfectly sound when freshly cut, is immersed immediately for 6 

 to 18 months, and then, on being taken out, is secured at both 

 ends of the logs with iron rings and wedges. Soaking timber or 

 burying it under corn were methods of seasoning practised by the 

 ancient Romans, who also steeped wood in oil of cedar to protect 

 it against worms. 



Salt water makes wood harder, heavier, and more durable ; and 

 the rules of Lloyd's add a year to the term of classification of a 

 ship if she is "salted" during construction, having her timbers, 

 that is, packed with salt. Salt water cannot, however, be applied 

 to any timber intended for use in ordinary buildings, as it gives 

 the wood a permanent tendency to attract moisture from the air. 



Boiling in oil is an effective and strengthening, but costly, 

 method of seasoning, employed in making wooden teeth for 

 mortice gears. The wood is roughed out in blocks little more 

 than the size of the finished work, and the oil kept at a tempera- 

 ture not exceeding 250 F. 



In Australia the abundance of hardwood, its great weight, and 

 the high price of labour, has led to a general total neglect of 

 seasoning, which has had a very deleterious effect upon the reputa- 

 tion of Australian timbers in the markets of the world. Though 

 admittedly too costly for general use, the modification of the 

 oil process adopted by Mr. J. H. Maiden, curator of the Tech- 

 nological Museum of New South Wales, for museum specimens 

 of timber is interesting. The logs are stood on end and the 

 upper end is soaked with boiled linseed oil, and a day or two 

 later covered with a cream of white lead. Iron bands are then 

 put round each end of the logs and hammered to their outline, 

 the ends of the bands being turned out at right angles and bored 

 for a screw bolt, by means of which the bands can be tightened 

 up every few days. 



