Part V.] Sweet: On Air Seasoning of Indian Timbers. 
71 
another in good vertical alignment. The vertical lines of crossers 
should hear directly upon the foundations, and those at the ends of the 
pile should be placed as nearly flush with the ends of the boards as 
possible. 
(e) Horizontal versus vertical piling . — The method of piling, dis- 
cussed above, deals principally with flat or horizontal piling. Both 
horizontal and vertical piling were tried in these experiments and the 
former seemed to give the better general results. It was impossible 
to detect any consistent difference in the amount of twisting, cracking, 
and staining. In cases where improper crossers were used the 
horizontally piled pieces were damaged by decay and insects at the 
point of contact, but there is no reason to think that this might not 
have been eliminated by more proper piling. On the other hand, 
most of the vertically piled boards were decayed and attacked by 
white ants at the ends in contact with the soil, in spite of the boards 
that were laid down on the ground for the ends to rest upon. In 
practically all cases this damage extended 6" — 9'' up the length of 
the piece and in many cases much farther. This form of damage is 
difficult to avoid. 
Vertical piling ordinarily permits more free circulation of air 
around the pieces. This results in too rapid seasoning for the woods 
inclined towards surface cracking, but is quite beneficial for the softer 
woods which require rapid surface drjdng to prevent staining. Vertical 
piling ordinarily requires more space for a given quantity of lumber, 
and thus the question of covering it by a roof is made more compli- 
cated, at least for large projects. The usefulness of this method of 
piling is largely limited to short, preliminary drying treatments for 
woods inclined toward staining prior to horizontal stacking und^r 
cover for complete seasoning. 
I 217 ] 
