CONTEOL OF DECAY IN PULP AND PULP WOOD 9 
METHODS OF STORAGE 
At the mill pulp wood is stored in the open in three ways: (1) In 
the water (PL III, fig. 4 and PL IV, fig. 1) ; (2) in conical piles of 2-foot 
wood built by means of conveyors (PL IV, figs. 2 and 3) ; and (3) 
closely ricked in long piles (PL V, figs. 1 and 2) up to 30 or 35 feet 
high. 
Complete immersion in water is theoretically ideal storage, because 
wood in a saturated condition can not rot. In present commercial 
practice, however, complete immersion is not practicable. Most of 
the logs float, and often the exposed portion dries out sufficiently for 
decay to take place. Some logs are left on the river banks at low 
water; others, as they are unloaded from cars into the river, are left 
in a high pile extending out into the water. Under such conditions 
of exposure, wood is very liable to decay, particularly in a zone just 
above the water line. 
In view of the difficulty of keeping the wood saturated, it is be- 
lieved that storing the logs on well-drained land is preferable to 
holding them in the river, provided they are properly piled. 
Of the two methods of piling pulp wood, ricking seems preferable 
to piling in large conical piles, provided the ricked piles are off the 
ground and, especially in the case of the smaller woods and shorter 
lengths, separated laterally one from another so as to allow con- 
tinuous circulation of air. With hemlock, however, when stored 
green with the bark on, piling in close ricks may result in less decay 
than when the ranks are separated. The conical pile offers the ad- 
vantage of requiring less space and trackage, but it has drawbacks 
from a pathological standpoint which, in many cases, can not be 
eliminated. Its volume is so great that drying takes place only in 
the outer part, and deterioration is apt to be rapid within. Drying 
is further retarded by the infiltration of bark debris, which rattles 
down from the conveyor (PL V, fig. 3) or is broken loose from rough 
wood in dropping. This debris is usually allowed to accumulate 
(PL V, fig. 4), and in time forms an excellent bed in which fungi 
(PL VI, fig. 1) can readily develop. Conical piles are placed di- 
rectly on the ground, which is usually moist and thoroughly per- 
meated with wood-destroying fungi, with the result that direct in- 
fection from the soil occurs. Because drying moist wood in large 
piles such as these is out of the question, the only alternative is to 
apply water in the form of a fine spray in an effort to keep the wood 
too wet for decay. Such a procedure, however, can be recommended 
only when the wood has a high water content at the time of piling. 
Hoxie (10, 11, 12) has discussed the relation of moisture to decay 
and has advocated the use of the spray method (PL VI, fig. 2) both 
as a preventive of decay and as a precaution against fire. As regards 
moisture in the wood as stored, his observations are: 
The character of pulp wood with respect to moisture content varies widely at 
different mills. Wood which is river driven and is piled out wet after remaining 
in water for several months contains about 55 per cent moisture, and tests made 
on chips from this wood after remaining in the pile for one season indicate an 
average moisture content of from 45 to 50 per cent, which, from best informa- 
tion obtainable, is never below 40 per cent. On the other hand, wood delivered 
by rail at some mills shows a moisture content as low as 23 per cent. 
In the present investigation, moisture determinations were made 
on a large number of wood samples, both sound and infected, which 
B 
