TIMBER STORAGE IN THE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN STATES. 



17 



The use of untreated wood blocking, particularly on low, moist 

 ground, should be discouraged, as such material invariably harbors 

 fungi. 



The most desirable practice, and one which would be free from all 

 objections, is the use of concrete or brick piers, preferably the former, 

 and skid timbe;^s treated with some preservative. Such skids, about 

 24 inches high, treated wjth creosote, are now in use at the Forest 

 Products Laboratorv 

 (fig. 18). 



Foundations with 

 concrete piers and 

 untreated skids are 

 at present in use in a 

 number of yards and 

 have given entire sat- 

 isfaction. At one 

 Mississippi mill (figs. 

 14 and 19) unfavor- 

 able conditions of 

 low ground have been 

 mainly overcome by 

 good drainage, care- 

 ful attention to the 

 removal of debris, 

 and the use of con- 

 crete foundations 

 well off the ground. 

 A description of the 

 foundations and their 

 cost may be of in- 

 terest. 



The foundations 

 were placed and the 

 tramways rebuilt be- 

 tween 1908 and 1910, after a number of years of unsatisfactory expe- 

 rience with wood, at a reported cost of about $30,000 for a mill having 

 an annual cut around 60,000,000 feet of pine a year. In the two years 

 preceding the placing of the concrete foundations and the rebuilding 

 of the tramways, the annual charge for material and labor in the 

 upkeep of the yard was $18,000 and $17,000, respectively. Follow- 

 ing the equipment of the yard with concrete foundation piers and 

 concrete footings for the tramway posts, this charge was materially 

 reduced. The present maintenance cost as reported by the company, 



71022°— Bull. 510—17 3 



P78F 



Fig. 13. — Vines growing over lumber piles. From a patho- 

 logical standpoint this condition should be condemned, 

 because the dense foliage prevents the lumber from rap- 

 idly drying out after rains, thus promoting decay. 



