ab BULLETIN 426, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
TaBLE 4.— Hardness of small, clear, green sticks of sugar pine, western yellow pine, white 
pine, and Douglas fir. 
Surface. 
Nl 
Species: End. Radial. | Tanzential, 
Load required to embed a 0.444-inch 
steel ball to one-half its diameter. 
Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. 
Pouprlas tr CEacite Northwest) ---o.- -2->----- ee - eee a eee 511 457 490 
SUP am pinie(CAMiOn a reece = seri ace ae ee eee ee 334 307 342 
White pine ( VEISEURSEE) ) © een. $2 Sons S ae SAC epi eee ee 304 294 299 - 
‘Western yellow pine (Calilormia) c .2-/5. 2526-52 see ees ane sees ee 316 306 323 
The specific gravity of the dry wood of sugar pine is 0.386. The 
weight of a cubic foot of oven-dry wood is 24.1 pounds. The weight 
of white pine (P. strobus) is 24.4 and of western yellow pine (P. pon- 
derosa) 26.3 pounds. The green weights per cubic foot for the three 
species are: Sugar pine, 50.2 pounds; white pine, 39.5 pounds; western 
yellow pine, 48 to 53.1 pounds. 
The Siapace weights for sugar pine lumber of different S1Zes, 
accepted by manufacturers, are shown in Table 1. Table 2 ons 
the strength, Table 3 the shrinkage, and Table 4 the hardness of 
sugar pine and several other species. 
DURABILITY. 
Early settlers found sugar pine more durable than the commoner 
western yellow pine and used a great deal in fence construction and 
building. In contact with the ground it lasts longer than most of the 
common Sierra species, but is not so durable as incense cedar or 
juniper. In the air, even where exposed to all kinds of weather, it 
shows great lasting properties. 
TREATMENT. 
So far as is known, no attempt has been made to increase the life 
of sugar pine by preservative treatment. Its value for other pur- 
poses is so great that very litle of it is used in contact with the 
ground. Theoretically, the sapwood should receive preservatives 
very readily, but the heartwood, like that of white pine, is so close- 
grained as to resist absorption and penetration under ordinary 
methods of treatment. Applications of paint, oil, varnish, or shellac, 
or boiling in oils or paraffin, would doubtless increase its lite iy 
preventing the absorption of water. 
LOGGING. 
The process of logging sugar pine in a typical California operation 
consists of the following steps: Felling, bucking, yarding, chuting or 
“roading,” loading, hauling to mill. 
