Indian Forest Records. 
[VOL. IX 
j 'i 
CHAPTER VII. 
Sanitation of Lumber Yards and Timber Depfi^s. 
Fungi and insects are two formidable enemies of wood during air- 
seasoning and storage. A certain amount of damage is unavoidable 
in that the timbers contain original infection before arriving in the 
yard, and little except prompt conversion and thorough seasoning can 
be done to arrest its development. But a large portion of the damage 
can be eliminated by maintaining more sanitary conditions in the 
yards. It is not a newly discovered fact that logs should not be 
allo'wed to lie in contact with the ground, and yet it is a verj- common 
sight in timber yards to see the logs partially embedded in the soil 
and overgrown with weeds and grass, apparently in utter disregard 
of the rapid depreciation that ^s taking place. In the course of a 
few inspections the writer has seen badly decayed logs, planks, and 
scantlings, which have been rejected because of their state of decom- 
position, growing luxurious fruiting bodies of fungi in close proximity 
to the other timbers in the yard. Decayed logs and sleepers used for 
foundations are often in direct contact with sound timber and naturally 
quickly spread infection. In fact, the ordinary timber yard, with its 
accumulation of decayed, defective pieces covering the ground, is an 
ideal harbour for both fungi and insects. Such an* accumulation of 
rubbish adds greatly to the fire risk also. 
The accumulation of chips, bark, and broken pieces to be found 
covering the ground in almost every timber yard should be gathered 
and burned. Pieces of timber rejected from the piles because of 
decay, insects, etc., should be removed from the yard and burned. 
]\Iere separation for a short distance from the main supply is not 
sufficient because the spores of the fungi and the insects easily find 
their way under the proper climatic conditions to the fresh timber. 
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