18 BULLETI^v" 1031, IT. S. DEPAETME^nTT OF AGEICULTURE. 



LOSSiES DUE TO SAP-STAIN OR MOLD. 



INSANITARY PRACTICES IN THE HANDLING OF GREEN WOOD STQCK. 



As a result of investigations in the woods, inspections of many car- 

 loads of green timber and dimension stock upon arrival at the mill, 

 examinations of green and seasoned manufactured stock upon ar- 

 rival at the vehicle factory, and talks with practical millmen and 

 lumbermen, the writer is convinced that a considerable amount of 

 the damage to vehicle stock, due to fungi, is brought about through 

 the use of infected raw material. Many of the infections take place 

 in the woods, as a result of insanitary practices in the handling of 

 logs, bolts, and split billets. In many instances, during warm and 

 humid weather logs and bolts have been allowed to lie in the woods 

 for weeks. Under such conditions sap-stain is almost certain to fol- 

 low. Moreover, the liability to attack by wood-destroying fungi is 

 greatly increased. 



Split billets, instead of being cross piled on dry foundations, are 

 sometimes thrown carelessly about the stump and left until a con- 

 venient time for hauling arrives. Under favorable circumstances it 

 takes but a few days for certain fungi to gain a good hold on such 

 stock, and unless later checked or destroyed by some process such as 

 kiln drjang, they may produce a permanent stain or decay in the 

 sapwood. 



It is quite probable that a serious shortage of cars suitable for 

 handling the logs, bolts, and billets may prevent at times the rapid 

 movement of raw stock to the mills. This results in the accumula- 

 tion of material in the woods and railroad yards and contributes to 

 conditions in many cases favorable to the development of the fungi. 

 Frequently box cars are used where in normal times the more open 

 and consequently better ventilated types of car would be employed. 



Failure to observe proper measures during storage, such as the 

 use of dry foundations for logs and bolts, the cross piling or strip- 

 ping of billets on drA' foundations sufficiently high to give suitable 

 ventilation from beneath, and the storage of stock in properly venti- 

 lated sheds, has furnished conditions suitable for the development 

 of mold, sap-stain, and decay in such material. 



A few millmen seem to have the mistaken idea that an abundant 

 growth of mold on green stock serves to protect it from checking by 

 preventing evaporation from the surface of the wood and actuallv 

 absorbing, or possibly condensing, moisture from the surrounding 

 atmosphere and then transmitting it to the wood. The fungus de- 

 rives its moisture from the wood, not the air. Its presence, however, 

 often indicates a high humidity in the immediate vicinity, a condition 

 which prevents tlie drying of the Avood and thus favors the growth 

 of fungi. It is quite probable that the phenomenon known as gutta- 



