On the Seasoning of Hardwoods. 353 



most favouraWe position for drying, since it was shut in by walls 

 on three sides, and was beneath an elm tree. The lowest humidity 

 recorded was 13%, and this was on the day of the disastrous 

 fires in the Otway Ranges. All the boards dried in about four 

 weeks. The percentage of moisture remaining was about 12 %, this 

 .being the average of three boards. 



The actual and percentage weights of the boards that lost most 

 .are as follow : — • 



Date 



Weight 



/o 



Weight 



% 



18/1/19 



16.6 



100 



16 



100 



25/1/19 



13.3 



80.6 



12.5 



76.9 



1/2/19 



11.14 - 



72.5 



10.15 - 



68.4 



8/2/19 



10.15 - 



66.8 



10.1 



62.9 



15/2/19 



10.6 



63.4 



9.12 - 



60.9 



22/2/19 



10.5 



63.0 



9.14 - 



61.7 



1/3/19 



10.4 



62.6 



9.14 - 



61.7 



It will be noticed that the latter one began to weigh more. 

 This is always the case with dry boards, for they vary with the 

 liumidity of the atmosphere. The result of this experiment indi- 

 cates the need for, more extensive observations on the natural dry- 

 ing of timber in our climate, especially during the summer. If 

 inch boards can be seasoned by a month's air drying in summer time, 

 to kiln-dry such boards w^ould be quite unnecessary and would 

 hardly save any time. I desire to thank the manager of the Vic- 

 torian Hardwood and Milling Co., and also Messrs. K. Grundy and 

 Co., for their care and promptness in supplying the timber for 

 these experiments. 



