INTRODUCTION. 
I T is becoming increasingly ('.vident to those interested in the 
utilization of Indian timbers that most deliberate attention must 
be given to ibe seasoning process. Whether we look at the j)rob- 
lem from the standpoint of the forest otlicer or timber firm anxious to 
win recognition for the properties and merits of s])ecies but slightly 
known to the wood-using trades, or whether fi’om the point of view 
of an industry desiring to find a suitable wood for a special product, 
the conclusion reached is invariably the same — the importance attach- 
ed to the seasoning process cannot be over-einphasized. It is true 
that for some purposes green timber may be used with as satisfac- 
tory results as seasoned wood. In such cases, which are relatively 
few in number, the properties of timber may be based on the un- 
seasoned condition. But for the majority of uses the properties of 
wood depend to a very large degree upon the seasoning, and it is 
only through proper seasoning that the most desirable characteris- 
tics of the wood are brought into effect. 
Seasoning is knowm, even by the layman, to be an essential opera- 
tion between the process of cutting the logs into lumber and their 
final use, but the exact significance of the operation and the possibi- 
lities for good or bad results attending the process are not generally 
recognized even by those who arc most directly interested. Too often 
the seasoning is grossly neglected either through irresponsibility or 
ignorance. Inasmuch as it is impossible to determine the degree of 
seasoning by mere superficial examination, unless an actual test is 
taken, it is necessary to accept the word of some one to a large 
Extent. Eesponsibility is therefore easily shifted from one to an- 
other and the results of neglect often are not apparent until after 
considerable time has elapsed. When timber which is said to be 
thoroughly seasoned is made up into the finished product and later 
cracks, shrinks, and falls apart, the fault may be laid to any of the 
agencies handling the wood or to the climate, but more often to the 
wood itself. It happens too frequently that an unknown wood is 
tested under unknow'n conditions of seasoning and is given an un- 
satisfactory and unfair judgment. 
Green, unseasoned w'ood is used with less hesitation and apology 
in India than in most countries wdiere the timbers are less refractory 
and the climatic conditions much less severe. The absence of timber 
yards in which converted timber is held for air seasoning is specially 
striking and significant of the fact that thorough seasoning before 
use is seldom accomplished. In the place of timber yards w'e see 
log depots storing quantities of logs, many of which depreciate much 
more rapidly than they season. The practice of holding logs rather 
than converted timber for seasoning is due perhaps as much to the 
lack of appreciation of the damage that occurs in most logs during 
storage and of the little seasoning that actually takes place as to the 
Y 
