VII] SODDENED TIMBER. -^7 



flourish if completely submerged. To ensure the pre- 

 servation of this wood it will therefore be necessary to 

 submerge it without delay. 



In cases where it is not convenient to submerge 

 the timber at once, it would do some good if the logs 

 were occasionally turned over. It is a little difficult, 

 however, to accomplish after one-half the log is soddened 

 with water, as then it can only be managed if secured 

 in rafts, and it is almost impossible to permanently 

 change the position of a log, if it be crooked, from that 

 which it naturally takes by its own gravity in the 

 water. 



To aid the natural seasoning, and bring about at 

 the earliest possible time the evaporation of the 

 moisture which is contained in all newly-felled timber, 

 the trees should not be allowed to remain long upon 

 the ground where they grew, as the soil is generally 

 damp and wet. They should rather be carried off as 

 early as convenient to the timber yard, and stored there 

 for preservation. 



One of the earliest causes of decay may be accounted 

 for by the way in which valuable logs of timber are too 

 often left to sink by their own weight into soft earth, 

 where they absorb a large amount of moisture, and are 

 sure to be infected by the spores of destructive fungi. 

 All logs, therefore, as they are brought in, unless stacked 

 at once, should be blocked or skidded off the ground, as 

 a temporary measure ; it involves little trouble, and will 

 amply repay the cost of labour. 



In stacking timber the following suggestions may be 

 useful : — 



First. Let the skidding as a rule be placed as nearly 

 as possible level both ways, and in no case allow the 



