XXXIx. | STACKING. 319 
ladder ; he will find it convenient for examining and 
selecting his logs for conversion. 
These rules were carefully carried out at Woolwich 
Dockyard, where for some few years previous to its being 
closed, an immense quantity of timber was kept. The 
stacks, besides being covered in, had the sides and one 
end also screened from the weather ; all this was done 
with the coarsest description of board in store, and such 
as could not have been used for joiners’ general purposes. 
The boards forming the screen at the sides were slipped 
into a groove at top and bottom, and a rail or fillet mid- 
way up and outside was secured to the inner framework 
of the shed by nails driven between the edges of the 
boards. No other fastening was required, and the 
advantage of the plan was this—it allowed sufficient play 
for the boards to shrink or expand according to the 
weather and the season, while they were still removable 
at pleasure for any other purpose. 
The end or working face of the stack was similarly 
closed up, but in this case, the boards being more 
frequently shifted, they were, for convenience, clamped 
together in twos and threes, and secured with a shifting 
bar half way up. The timber was thus well protected 
from the weather, and well ventilated, though not 
subjected to a draught; and, in 1869, Woolwich yard 
contained probably the finest and best-preserved stock of 
timber in England. 
It will be seen, then, that the preservation of 
timber may be cheaply and economically effected, and 
its seasoning brought about in a steady and regular 
manner by the adoption of the simplest precautions. 
Experience has shown that this is the only certain 
method of insuring its durability, and it is therefore fit 
that the best attention should be paid to it. 
