36 



BULLETIN 510, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 



According to the owners, the immediate loss of this yard in stock 

 and repairs up to October, 1914, was estimated to be between $1,000 

 and $2,000. This represents, however, only the actual loss to the com- 

 pany in lumber, figured at wholesale prices, and labor' necessary in 

 making repairs. The potential danger to the consumer using such 

 stock, even though but very slightly infected, would amount to very 

 much more than this sum, for a single stick introduced into each of 

 a number of new buildings would occasion an incalculable amount of 

 damage if such timbers happened to be placed in a moist situation 

 favorable for the further development and spread of the fungus. 



As soon as the infec- 

 tions were noted as seri- 

 ous, the company at- 

 tempted eradication and 

 control measures. In the 

 office building the spread 

 of the fungus has been 

 checked by proper ven- 

 tilation, and in the sheds 

 the same methods are be- 

 ing applied by removing 

 the cinder fills beneath 

 them and raising the 

 foundations to a height 

 of 18 to 24 inches, plac- 

 ing the sills on brick 

 piers. In future repairs 

 the writer has suggested 

 the application of either 

 mercuric chlorid or some 

 creosote compound to the 

 new timbers. 



One member of the 

 company so firmly be- 

 lieved that the cinders used for filling about the yard had been 

 highly favorable to the development and spread of the infection 

 that orders were given to remove all of them from beneath the 

 sheds. While it is possible that the infection may have been in- 

 troduced by means of the cinders, the rapid growth of the fungus 

 was mainly due to poor ventilation. Cinders have been used by a 

 considerable number of other yards with complete satisfaction. . 

 Ashes, however, are not to be recommended. There are records in 

 German literature where ashes used for filling between floors to 

 deaden them have been the source of fungous outbreaks. The case 

 of a cotton warehouse investigated by the writer, where pine flooring 



Fig. 37. — The latticed type of built-up plank founda- 

 tions. This is an improvement over the solid type, 

 as it allows better ventilation beneath the piles. 



