TIMBER STORAGE IN THE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN STATES. 27 
the stack at the rear. Hoofing the piles should never be omitted, as 
the protection afforded against rain is of undoubted value and the 
operation itself adds very little to the cost of piling. 
HANDLING TIMBER AT RETAIL YARDS. 
The storage problems involved at retail yards are somewhat dif- 
ferent from those at mills, although they may be discussed under 
exactly similar heads. 
LOCATION OF YARDS WITH REFERENCE TO DECAY. 
As a first observation, we may say in general that retail or whole- 
sale yards, as opposed to yards in connection with a sawmill, have the 
advantage of a higher and drier 
location, which, in turn, should 
make sanitation measures easier 
to practice. The necessity of lo- 
cating on streams or bodies of 
water is not ordinarily a prime 
consideration, but rather the lo- 
cation on or near a railway line 
and as convenient as possible to 
the actual consumer. Naturally, 
in the seaport towns, where much 
of the lumber comes in by boat, 
the most favorable location from 
the standpoint of transportation 
is along the water front, but in 
inland towns, where the shipment 
of lumber is by rail, the other 
factors of accessibilit}^ to the 
local market and the price of 
land play the important part. 
This general advantage of lo- 
cation, however, is often consid- 
erably offset by the necessity for 
close piling, without adequate 
ventilation either between the 
piles or through them, due to the higher cost of land. When this is 
coupled with the fact that much of the product has been in storage 
elsewhere for varying periods, sometimes a year or more, it can 
readily be seen why decay is rather frequently encountered in the 
retail yard. 
The salvation of the retail dealers usually lies in disposing of their 
stock rapidly. Most of them* aim to turn it at least three or four 
times a year, for they recognize that long storage will prove disas- 
trous. Timber showing deterioration through decay is not difficult 
to find in most retail yards. However, this is very often only in the 
P9IF 
Fig. 28. — Two-inch stock piled without 
sticks, a method rarely used in the yards 
visited. Not used, as far as observed, 
with stock less than 6 inches wide. 
