TIMBER STORAGE IN THE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN STATES. 37 



laid on flat 2 by 6's resting on ashes was very quickly rotted out by 

 this same fungus (PL IX, figs. 3 and 4), likewise offers circum- 

 stantial evidence. 



The remaining fungus which needs consideration is Peniophora 

 gigantea (Fr.) Mass. (PL X, figs. 5 and 6). This is a white to 

 pale creamy moldlike growth when immature. When mature it 

 forms a waxy incrustation on the surface of the timber, closely ad- 

 herent when fresh, but when dry tending to become hard and horny 

 and to curl up at the free edges. This organism is widely distrib- 

 uted, mainly on pine timber, throughout the southern pine belt, and 

 also occurs on conifers in the Rocky Mountain region. In the South 

 it is frequently found in the woods, whence it readily passes to 

 stored lumber. Many lumberyards have been abundantly infected 

 with it ever since they 

 started in business; so 

 long, in fact, that to 

 sever the attachment 

 would be like losing 

 an old acquaintance. 

 From the southern 

 yards it has been in- 

 troduced northward 

 and is very conspicu- 

 ous at certain points 

 along the North At- 

 lantic coast (PL III, 

 fig. 7). The timber 

 reaches these points 

 mainly by boat. Close 

 storage of the green or 

 partially dried stock 

 in the hold of a vessel 

 during an ocean voy- 

 age of perhaps several 

 weeks usually permits 

 a vigorous development of the fungus. As a result of this, infections 

 are so abundant in some of the North Atlantic yards that one would 

 have difficulty in finding any clean material whatever. 



It is fortunate that the organism does not approach in destructive- 

 ness such forms as have been previously described, else many lumber- 

 yards would be doomed immediately. It is a wood-destroying fun- 

 gus, however, which limits its action to the sapwood. Although the 

 deterioration is comparatively slow, it does weaken the timber to a 

 considerable extent and should be guarded against along with the 

 more dangerous fungi. 



Fig. 



38. — Concrete foundations in the retail yard in 

 Alabama shown in figure 15. 



