TIMBER STORAGE IN THE EASTERN" AND SOUTHERH STATES. 41 
and this must necessarily be the case until a standard and succinct 
set of grading rules is put into practice by all dealers. 
Branding not only puts the company's guaranty of quality behind 
the product, but indicates as well the kind of timber supplied. Thus, 
for example, an operator in Douglas fir and western white pine in 
Idaho could not then possibly confuse his product with southern pine 
or eastern pine when it reaches the eastern market. For the architect 
it is very essential to know that the kind of timber he recedes accords 
with the specifications. 
The biggest and most enduring reputations in any line of indus- 
trial activity are based on the best type of service. When the lum- 
berman who has the highest desire for good service throws his prod- 
uct promiscuously on the market with the lower grade materials, he 
is at the same time throwing away an industrial asset of no doubtful 
value. This will become more and more the case as the building 
public wakes up to the dangers lurking in the use of inferior or 
fungus-infected timber. 
The timber of the United States is a national asset in which the 
citizens have a certain vested interest which calls for the best utili- 
zation possible. The lumberman as guardian of these interests cer- 
tainly owes to the public no less than his best efforts to convert the 
forest into a finished product which shall ultimately reach the con- 
sumer in prime condition. 
CONCLUSIONS. 
Improvement of lumber storage conditions can be brought about 
by modifying present insanitary practices along the following lines : 
(1) Strong efforts should be made to store the product on well-drained 
ground, removed from the possible dangers of floods, high tides, and standing 
water. 
(2) All rotting debris scattered about yards should be collected and burned, 
no matter whether it be decayed foundation and tramway timbers or stored 
lumber which has become infected. In the case of yards already filled in to 
considerable depths with sawdust and other woody debris the situation can be 
improved by a heavy surfacing with soil, slag, or similar material. 
(3) More attention should be given to the foundations of lumber piles in order 
to insure freedom from decay and better ventilation beneath the stacks. In 
humid regions the stock should not be piled less than 18 to 24 inches from 
the ground. Wood blocking used in direct contact with wet ground should be 
protected by the application of creosote or other antiseptic oils or else re- 
placed by concrete, brick, or other durable materials. Treated horizontal skid 
timbers would also be highly advantageous, for stock should never be piled 
in direct contact with diseased timber. 
(4) Instead of throwing the "stickers" about on the ground, to become 
infected, they should be handled carefully and when not in use piled on sound 
foundations and kept dry as far as possible. If resinous pine or the heartwood 
of such durable species as white oak or red gum be employed, the danger of 
possible infection will be greatly decreased. 
