59 



made on oak to determine tbis point, a report of wliicli will be given in 

 the third series. In oak G.(dimension 9J inches by 9J inches by 12 feet 

 2 inches), the moisture at start in January was 43 per cent., and com- 

 menced to drop in March and April and in the following months until 

 the end in ]S"ovember, fluctuating between 38 per cent, and 41 per cent. 

 The remaining oak (K, F, I, D, J, and E) all commence to decrease in 

 percentage of moisture during March and April, and show a continual 

 decrease toward the end of the pieces. Unfortunately these pieces were 

 not of sufQcient length to allow the moisture to reach the lowest limit, 

 but from them we can tell the spring months which the seasoning be- 

 gins. 



Fine. — Experiments with the pines were not commenced until April 

 18, 1887, and two test pieces (N and O) are still under observation. In 

 these there is an almost immediate decrease in percentage of moisture. 

 In N, the moisture dropped from 28 per cent, in April to 12 per cent. 

 October 1, when it increased to about IG i3er cent., remaining at that 

 through the full winter and spring, and in the following May again be- 

 gan to decrease until 13 per cent, was reached, where it remained with 

 slight variation. In O, the moisture in April, 1887, was 20 per cent., 

 and by the following August, 1887, had dropped to 9 per cent., then 

 increased to about 14 per cent., where it remains with the exception of 

 a slight drop in the summer. 



Mouths of 1888 : The piece of roofing, 1 inch thick, had 14 per cent, of 

 moisture in April, 18S7, and which decreased to 10 percent, by August, 

 but the following fall and winter months it increased to 16 i)er cent., 

 and did not decrease during the winter and spring months, until Au- 

 gust, 1888, when it commenced to drop, and by June, 1888, the percent- 

 age was about the same as the summer of 1887. This piece took up 

 moisture during the wet seasons. 



The pine L (2 inches by 10 inches by 18 feet) when first commenced 

 in April contained 18-20 per cent, moisture, but immediately began to 

 decrease and reached the lowest percentage of moisture in the following 

 July and August, then increased during the fall and winter, amount- 

 ing to 17 per cent, during February and March of 1888, and again be- 

 ginning to decrease in April and continuing to do so until the piece 

 ended in the middle of July. The i^iece also took up moisture during 

 the wet seasons. 



Ash. — Only one piece of ash was used during the experiments, which 

 contained about 22 per cent, of moisture during the months of January, 

 February, and March, but during April the percentage began to de- 

 crease, being the lowest in August (11 per cent.) and remained at about 

 12 per cent, during the following fall and winter months, and until 

 March, 1888, when the piece ended. 



^^m.— The one piece of elm, H, showed a steady decrease of moisture 

 from 29 per cent, in January, 1887, to IG per cent, in l^ovember of the 

 same year, when the end of the piece was reached. 



