STRENGTH AND TESTING OF TIMBER '3i)o 
small pieces of jarrah and karri, which when green con- 
tained 50 and 54 per cent, of moisture, contained at the 
end of six months 34 per cent, and 38 per cent., and at the 
end of three years 13 per cent, and 14 per cent., whilst 
large pieces of the same timber about 12 inches by 12 inches 
contained 39 per cent, and 43 per cent, respectively at the 
end of one year, 28 per cent, and 31 per cent, at the end of 
three years, and after six years they still contained 21 per 
cent, and 22 per cent, of moisture ; this timber had been 
stacked in the open and well ventilated. Bed gum and 
blackbutt, which when green contained 75 per cent, and 61 
per cent, of moisture, contained, as one might expect, after 
the periods of seasoning mentioned above, a yet larger 
proportion of moisture than karri or jarrah.^ 
As showing the influence of moisture on the strength of 
timber, in the Western Australian tests it is stated that 
tests of karri "green" gave results 46 per cent, less than 
karri " dry " in end compression, yate gave 43 per cent., 
blackbutt 40 per cent., tuart 35 per cent., jarrah 31 per 
cent., red gum 29 per cent., York gum and wandoo 23 per 
cent., and Morrell 22 per cent, below the strengths in end 
compression of the same timbers which contained only 
12 per cent, of moisture, which were, that is to say, perfectly 
seasoned ; this being the standard of moisture adopted 
for all the Western Australian tests, as well as for most of 
those of the United States. 
In cross-bending tests for beams of Australian timber 
25 square inches in section, the percentage of reduction in 
strength between green timber and seasoned timber varied 
from a maximum in the case of karri and tuart of 33 per 
cent, to a minimum of 14 per cent, for wandoo.^ In tests 
1 " The Physical Characteristics of the Hardwoods of Western 
Australia," 1906. 
