58 



moisture determinatiou beiog made April 18, 1887. 

 the determinations and the kind of material : 



The following are 



Letter. 



Kind. 



For what used. 



Cross di- 

 mensions. 



Lengtb. 



A 



Oak 





In. In. 

 4| by 14 

 4iby 8 

 pbyl2i 

 5 by 9i 

 9 by 9i 

 4 by 5 

 91 by 9f 



3 by 41 



4 by 9 

 3 by 12 

 4^ by 6| 

 2 by 10 

 1 by 6 



5 by 9| 

 2Jby 5 



Ft. In. 

 17 



F 



do 



do 



8 2 



D 



... do 



End plate.. 



9 3 



E 



do 



End sill 



9 6 



J 



do 



do 



10 



K 



do 





7 4 



G 



do 





12 2 



I 



do 





7 



B 



Asli 



Corner post 



16 



C 





Outside 



16 



H 



Elm 



Brake beam 



12 



L 



Hard pine 



Flooring 



18 



M 



Soft pine 



Eoofiu<r 



16 



If 



Hard pine 



Sidesill 



80 









30 











There are yet running two pieces of pine (N and O), and when they 

 are finished a third report will be made on " fluctuation of moisture in 

 wood and miscellaneous experiments in wood seasoning." 



On every Monday morning the amount of moisture was determined. 

 Following is the method emi^loyed in the estimation : From the same end 

 of each piece, exactly 3 inches was sawed, and from this piece on the 

 end freshly sawed, and exactly in the center, borings of the wood were 

 obtained, using a |-iuch bit. These borings or chi^^s were transferred, 

 as quickly as they left the bit, to a previously weighed drying tube, and 

 when about 2| inches had been bored, the tube is quickly and securely 

 stopped and again weighed. The amount of chips of the wood is then 

 known. This tube containing the chips is placed in an air-oven for 

 one hour, at a temperature of 230 degrees Fahrenheit j then taken out, 

 cooled and weighed. This is repeated, drying fifteen minutes each time, 

 until the weight begins to increase (due perhaps to oxidation of the 

 resinous matters), when the lowest weight obtained is taken as the cor- 

 rect one. The determinations were all made by the same person, except 

 a few during March and April, 1888, and thus any "personal error" 

 avoided that might arise from different persons doing the work. 



COMMENTS. 



Qal\ — It will be noticed in the tables of i)ercentages of moisture that 

 determinations were made in eight pieces of oak of different dimensions, 

 only one of which (A) was of sufficient length to last more than one 

 year. In this piece the moisture fluctuated very much, although there 

 is noticeable decrease commencing in April, and being the lowest the 

 latter part of jSTovember, when it increased from 30 per cent, to 35 per 

 cent., and then went down again until it ended in March. I do not 

 attribute the 5 per cent, increase in December to the wood absorbing 

 moisture, but to the fact that the per cent, of moisture in the center or 

 heart of green oak would amount to this difference. An experiment was 



i 



