14 BULLETIN 753, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
is to pile the 4-foot lengths in compact piles resting on two bed pieces. 
This does very well when the wood is to season for six months or 
longer, but a different procedure must be adopted where more rapid 
seasoning is desired. The most open form of pile is the so-called “log- 
cabin ” style. A pile which gives almost as good results without occu- 
pying nearly as much space has alternate tiers resting on single sticks 
at each end. There 
isample ventilation 
through the alter- 
| nate open layers. 
Yord 
Four foot wood 
| It is very im- 
| portant for rapid 
Building seasoning to place 
Reg gv, aki E LS iy ae ‘| the piles so that the 
| air will circulate 
readily through 
| them. The ideal 
| place for this pur- 
pose is an open field, 
| preferably ona hill- 
top. The direction 
| toward which the 
| 
| 
sal 
\ 
piles face is not 
very important if 
there is good air 
circulation. The 
best results will be 
obtained in season- 
ing if the piles are 
so constructed as to 
shed rain as much 
as possible. 
Cordwood of the 
ordinary species 
requires a period of 
Fie. 1.—Plan of a retail wood dealer’s plant for sawing fone enone 
and splitting cordwood. 
to season thor- 
oughly, although the moisture content will be reduced to about 35 per 
cent in three months’ time, depending somewhat on the season of the 
year. Wood of three months’ seasoning has from 85 to 95 per cent 
as much fuel value as wood of the same species thoroughly seasoned. 
Even green wood has a heating value of 80 per cent or more of that 
of dry wood. 
| 
| 
| Sis 
\ \Sundlers oO 
| posal Fam 
| dae 
pts 
TRANSPORTATION. 
Ordinarily wood fuel is used within 5 to 10 miles of the locality 
where it is produced, because its great bulk makes it expensive to ship. 
