CHAPTER IV.

ON SEASONING TIMBER BY NATURAL METHODS, VIZ. HOT AND COLD AIR; FRESH AND SALT WATER; VAPOUR; SMOKE; STEAM; BOILING; CHARRING AND SCORCHING, ETC.

All timber must, whether it be sap-wood or heart-wood, be placed in situations which will allow the sap to exude or evaporate, and this process is the one technically known by the term “seasoning.” There are natural and artificial modes of seasoning, both of which have their recommendations; but the former has certainly the right of preference, as it gives greater toughness, elasticity, and durability, and therefore should always be employed in preparing timber for carpentry. As the word “timber” has been frequently used, it may be as well to state that it is derived, according to Dr. Johnson, from the Saxon, _timbrian_, to build: hence the above definition. The legal definition of timber is restricted to particular species of wood, and custom varies in different countries as to the species ranked among the timber trees.

When a tree is felled, it encloses in its fibres as well as in capillary channels a considerable quantity of sap, which is nothing else but water charged with gummy, saccharine, saline, mucilaginous, and albuminous matters. In this state, the latter are very liable to ferment, but they lose their liability when, by the evaporation of the sap, they pass to a dry and solid state; so that the first suggestion which naturally presents itself to the mind, is to subject the timber to a lengthened seasoning.

But the present demands for time will not admit of this, and therefore it is imperative to resort to artificial and speedy methods.

With respect to the value of timber in the log, owing to its becoming rent by the weather, it sells for 15 per cent. less the second year than the first, and so on for less and less the longer you keep it.

A natural seasoning may be adopted for specimens of moderate thickness, such as deals, planks, &c. At the end of eighteen months from the time of importation they are scarcely dry enough for the consumer’s use.

When there is time for drying it gradually, all that is necessary to be done on removing it from the damp ground of the forest, is to place it in a dry yard, sheltered from the sun and wind, and where there is no vegetation; and set it on bearers of iron or brick in such a manner as to admit of a ventilation all round and under it. In this manner it should continue two years, if intended for carpentry; and double that time, if intended for joinery; the loss of weight which should take place to render it fit for the purposes of the former being about one-fifth; and for the latter about one-third. In piling it, the sleepers on which the first pieces are laid should be perfectly level, and “out of the wind,” and so firm and solid throughout that they will remain in their original position; for timber, if bent or made to wind before it is seasoned, will generally retain the same form when dried. Blocks of wood should be put between the “sticks” of timber, and each piece directly over the other, so that air may freely pass through the whole pile; for while it is necessary to shield timber from strong draughts of wind and the direct action of the hot sun, a free circulation of air and moderate warmth are equally essential.

If timber is not used round, it is good to bore out the core; as, by so doing, the drying is advanced, and splitting prevented, with almost no sacrifice of strength. If it is to be squared into logs, it should be done soon after some slow drying, and whole squared, if large enough, as that removes much of the sap-wood, facilitates the drying, and prevents splitting, which is apt to take place when it is in the round form, in consequence of the sap-wood drying before the heart, from being less dense. If it may be quartered, it is well to treat it so after some time, as the seasoning is by that means rendered more equal. It is well also to turn it now and then, as the evaporation is greatest from the upper side. In France, the term “bois du brin,” means timber the whole size of the tree, excepting that which is taken off to render it square.

To prevent timber warping to any serious extent, it should be well seasoned before it is cut into scantlings; and the scantlings should be cut some time before they are to be used, in order that the seasoning may be as perfect as possible; and if they can be set upright, so much the better, as then they will dry more rapidly. The white lowland deals of Norway and the white spruce deals of Canada have the same disposition to warp and split on drying. Du Hamel has shown that it is a great advantage to set the timber upright, with the lower end raised a little from the ground; but as this cannot always be done, the timber-yards should be well drained and kept as dry as possible. “Ancient architects,” observes Alberti, “not only prevented the access of the scorching rays of the sun and the rude blasts of wind, but also covered the surface with cow-dung, to prevent the too sudden evaporation from the surface.” The warping of timber is attributable by some to the manner of its growth. Boards cut out of a tree that is twisted in its growth will not keep from warping; boards cut from trees that are grown in open situations have another fault, in the heart of the tree not running straight like forest-grown wood. In a plank cut from a tree of this kind in a straight line, the heart will traverse it from one end to another. No treatment will prevent it from warping or drying hollow on the side farthest from the heart. Where the heart is in the centre of a plank, and each side has an equal chance of drying, it will not warp; but there will be a shake or crack upon each side, denoting the position of the heart.

Some deals, and particularly the stringy deals, are very hygrometric, and never lose the property, however long they have been seasoned, of expanding and contracting with change of weather. White Petersburgh deals are said to have that property, however long they may have been kept, so that if used in the panel of a door, the wood alternately enters and recedes from the groove into which it fits, as the paint will show when that kind of deal has been used for a panel.

The wood of the north side will not warp so much as the wood from the south side. The face of the planks should be cut in the direction which lay from east to west as the tree stood. If this be done, the planks will warp much less than if cut in the opposite direction. The nature of the tree, the soil upon which it is grown, the position of its growth, the period of the year in which it is felled, and the length of time between its felling and converting, are the principal points to be considered; a thorough knowledge and study of which is the only true principle on which we can hope to deal with the warping and converting of timber.

Wood, when it is cut into small pieces, very soon acquires its utmost degree of dryness. Dr. Watson, Bishop of Llandaff, in the month of March, cut a piece from the middle of a large ash tree that had been felled about six weeks, and weighed it; its weight was 317 grains. In seven days it lost 62 grains, or nearly one-fifth of its weight. It was weighed again in August of the same year, but had not lost any more of its weight; hence it had become perfectly dry in the short space of seven days. He also found that the sap-wood of oak lost more weight in drying than the heart-wood, in the proportion of 10 to 7.

The time that is required to season or dry a piece of timber obviously depends upon its magnitude; as a _general rule_, large timbers will not continue good so long as small ones, as sufficient time is rarely given for a thorough seasoning. The time required to dry a piece of timber, all other things being alike, will depend on the quantity of surface exposed to the action of the air; therefore, while the quantity of timber remains the same, the larger the surface, the sooner it will dry. Also, if the quantity of surface remains the same, the time of drying will be proportioned to the quantity of matter; as the greater the quantity of matter under the same surface, the longer it will be in drying.

As drying proceeds most rapidly in small pieces, it is therefore important to reduce the timber to its proper scantlings or size for use; for however dry a piece of timber may be, when it is cut to a smaller scantling it will shrink and lose weight, being always less dry in the centre than at the surface; and the more rapidly the drying has been carried on, the greater will be the difference. Nevertheless, in the first stage of seasoning it is best that it should proceed slowly; otherwise, the external pores shrink so close as not to permit the full evaporation of the internal moisture, and the piece would split from unequal shrinking; and lastly, it should be reduced to the proper scantling, as already observed, some time before it is to be framed. Various tables have been given by writers on timber, the result of algebraical calculations, of the times of seasoning and drying for different woods of different lengths, breadths, and thicknesses, in the open air; but as wood even of the same description and quality varies so much, this matter is best left to those who are well acquainted with timber. It may, however, be stated that the time required for drying under cover is shorter than in the open air, in the proportion of 5 to 7.

The English shipwright considers that three years are required to thoroughly season timber. The timbers for ships are usually cut out to their shape and dimensions for about a year before they are framed together, and they are commonly left a year longer in the skeleton shape to complete the seasoning, as in that condition they are more favourably situate as regards exposure to the air than when they are closely covered in with planking.

It is worthy of mention that all the harder woods require increased care in the seasoning, which is often badly begun by exposure to the sun or hot winds in their native climates: their greater impenetrability to the air the more disposes them to crack, and their comparative scarcity and expense are also powerful arguments on the score of precaution. Oak timber requires to be very carefully seasoned, as it is generally used in buildings for the best description of work, and should unseasoned oak be used for “panelling,” any shrinkage will be fatal to the work. Mr. George Marshall, timber merchant (see the _Builder_, January 20, 1872), with respect to seasoning oak timber, observes: “I should select oak trees known to be old and hearty, with clean, straight butts, from 15 inches to 20 inches in diameter. I should then have the bark taken off as they stand, and leave them thus till the winter; the sap will then partially dry out, and make the wood a rich brown colour. As soon as they are cut down, have them sawn up at once into the lengths you require the panelling, 6 inches or 8 inches wide and 1 inch to 1½ inch thick. Be careful to cut all the heart shakes, by having one cut through the centre of the log before edging the boards to the required width. With regard to the drying process, stack the boards in a shed with a good draught through it, and load them down, with slips between each board, to prevent warping. If this be done they will be found to dry well and speedily, and they will not require to be exposed to the weather.”

Sir. Robert Phillips, on seasoning oak for panelling, states: “If the tree is large enough for the purpose, cut it into four, in sections, by drawing a vertical and horizontal line across the end, meeting in the centre. If too small for this, cut it into 4½ inch or 6-inch plank, as soon as possible after felling, and then stack _on end_ out in the open: do not lay on the ground, but stand it as nearly _vertical_ on its end as possible, and keep it wet during the first three months. If the weather is dry, well _wet_ it with water poured on the top, and allowed to run down. Let the ends stand on a piece of quartering, to keep it out of the dirt, or it will be stained some distance up. After standing thus for some six months, after putting it in a dry place for some time, cut it into the scantlings you require, always bearing in mind that oak will, after this seasoning, shrink at least half an inch to a foot, in width and thickness. They should then be stacked and stripped, and covered with spare boards, and weighted on the top, for at least six months--as much more as possible--in a covered shed, with plenty of air, occasionally turned over and shifted, till they are dry enough to make dust when planed, and not turn the shaving black. They will then be fit for use.

“I should advise for the panels to be cut _feather-edged_ boards, in radial lines from the centre of the tree: it will be a waste of material, but will repay in the beauty of the wood, and the way it will stand without warping. Most of the panels of our old cathedrals were rent (_not sawn_) in this way, and stand admirably. The butt of the tree should be taken, the top being used for a rougher purpose.”

Mr. George Marshall and Mr. Robert Phillips might have mentioned that the oak trees should be of the _Quercus Robur_ species, and _not_ the _Quercus Sessiliflora_. They are easily distinguished when growing by the following peculiarities: The acorn-stalks of the _Robur_ are _long_; the acorns grow singly, or seldom two on the same footstalk; the leaves are _short_. The acorn-stalks of the _Sessiliflora_ are _short_; the acorns grow in clusters of two or three, close to the stem of the branch; the leaves are _long_.

WATER SEASONING.

When there is not time for gradual drying, the best method, perhaps, that can be adopted, especially for sappy timber, and if strength is not principally required, is immediately on felling to immerse it in running water; and after allowing it to remain there about a fortnight, to set it in the wind to dry. Some persons prefer this method of seasoning timber, as they say it prevents cleaving, and strips and seasons better afterwards. This process has been adopted with good results by placing the boards end on at the head of a mill race for fourteen or twenty days, at most, and then setting the boards upright, and subject to the action of the sun and wind; though it is questionable whether the sun will not do them more harm than good. As they stand, turn them daily, and when perfectly dry--which process will take about one month--it is considered they will be found to floor better than timber after many years of dry seasoning. The sap-wood of oak is said to be improved by this method, being much less subject to be worm-eaten; and providing it is placed in fresh running water, Mr. G. A. Rogers, the celebrated wood carver, is of opinion that the colour of the oak is improved. The more tender woods, such as alder and the like, are less subject to the worm when water seasoned. Beech is said to be much benefited by immersion. It should be remembered that the timber should be altogether under water (chained down beneath its surface), as partial immersion is very destructive. Du Hamel considers “that where strength is required, wood ought not to be put in water.” Timber should never be kept floating in ponds or docks, as in London; but it should be stacked, as at Liverpool and Gloucester. Timber that has been lying for months in ponds or docks is sometimes cut up, and in six or seven days fixed in a building; consequently, the usual result takes place, viz. dry rot. After having been swelled by soaking much beyond its former bulk, the baulk of timber is put on the saw-pit, and cut into scantlings, and framed while in this wet state, therefore it cannot be surprising that the dry rot soon appears as a natural consequence.

Amongst wheelwrights the water seasoning is in general favour. It is said that the colour of the white woods is improved by water seasoning, boiling, or steaming. The Venetians place the oak used for gun-carriages in water for two years before it is used, and the timber for sea service two or three years under water. The Turks do not appear to pay any attention to seasoning, for they fell their timber at all times of the year without any regard to the season, and although they grow very good oak, it is used so green and unseasoned that it not only twists, but decays rapidly, as anyone may observe in the houses at Constantinople and other Turkish towns.

Timber is rendered more durable by placing it in a stream of water, saturated with lime, for eight or ten days, and it also makes it less liable to the attack of worms; but it, however, becomes hard after being dried, and is difficult to be worked; and therefore the process should be applied to timber which has been sawn into scantlings, and is ready for use. Mr. William Chapman, in 1812, considered that an immersion of timber in hot limewash in deep ponds, exposing little surface to the air, merited a trial; but in 1816, from experiments he had made, he was of opinion that it had proved injurious to timber.

Evelyn states that green elm, if plunged for a few days in water (especially salt water), obtains an admirable seasoning. According to Society of Arts _Trans._, 1819, every trace of fungus was eradicated from the ship “Eden,” by its remaining eighteen months under sea water. Salt water is considered good for ship timber, but for timber to be employed in the construction of dwelling-houses, fresh water is better. Pliny notices, as a fact, that certain woods on being dried after immersion in the sea acquire additional density and durability. M. de Lapparent, late Director of the French Navy, considers that timber cannot be seasoned in salt water, but in fresh, or at the most, in brackish water. The condition of the timber which, at the port of Rochefort, is kept in ditches filled with fresh water is in this respect most favourable; that kept at Toulon, Brest, and Lorient, where the water is brackish, is much less so; but to estimate their relative advantages, it would be necessary to test the average density of these waters. It is, however, at Cherbourg that this natural preparation of timber is the most inefficient, as the beds-of sand in which the timber is buried, near the Pool of Tourlaville, contain but a small quantity of water, which, being nearly always stagnant, very quickly exhausts itself, and is very prejudicial.

At the Cologne International Agricultural Exhibition, in 1865, three sleepers were exhibited from the Magdeburg Leipsiger Railway, from the Salt Work Branch, at Stassfurt, laid in 1857. These were moistened by the refuse of the salt which was lost from the load and by the rain. The jury in their Report stated that these sleepers proved nothing, “because every old table on which fish or meat has been salted, proves that a constant moistening with salt water preserves the wood from decay, but as soon as the process of salting is given up, the salted matter is immediately given out, and the timber soon decays. In this case it would have been important to have known that these sleepers, after having been salted, had lain anywhere else than in the Salt Work Branch without getting fresh salt applied, and then to have seen if they would have been as perfect as they are now. They, indeed, prove nothing but the fact that if sleepers be daily sprinkled with salt they will remain sound, but the price paid for this durability might be very considerable.” As the use of salt as a preservative agent will be considered in the next chapter, it will be best to defer the consideration of salt-water seasoning until then.

In India, teak, sál, and blackwood, &c., improve by lying in water, or in the soft black mud of an estuary: there is one exception, viz. heddé, which deteriorates from steeping, and should be carted to its destination.

Evelyn states that he had found a fortnight’s immersion in river water sufficient, and this opinion is held by Silloway, a North American authority; but Dr. Porcher, a South American writer, recommends a six months’ immersion in water, and a six months’ exposure to wind and shade. Vitruvius and Alberti consider that timber should be left immersed in a running stream thirty days.

It is considered that the longer wood has remained under water, the more rapidly it dries; for instance, every one is aware that the firewood brought out of the river is less green and burns better than that brought by waggon or boat.

In 1817, Admiral Count Chateauvieux, a Sardinian naval officer, observed to Mr. McWilliam that it was a custom at the Royal Arsenal, at Genoa, as a preventive against the diseases of timber, to steep it about three years in fresh water immediately after it is felled. Mr. James Dickson, of Gottenburg, timber merchant (member of the firm Peter Dickson and Company, London), many years engaged in the Swedish timber trade, observed in 1835, “If square timber lies in the water two or three years, it rends at the heart, but I should not say it would, perhaps, for the first year; but the exterior part rends soon by exposure to the weather.” In 1818, the Chevalier de Campugano, Secretary of Legation to the Spanish Embassy, stated that in Spain, when timber is felled, it is generally laid in water for a considerable time.

The sap in timber, by reason of the matters which it holds in solution, is denser than pure water; moreover, it is enclosed in fibres or channels permeable at the ends.

Supposing in submerged timber, the surrounding water to be flowing, or at least changing, this water will conclude by occupying, if not altogether, at least in a great degree, the place of the sap, which will have issued forth, carrying with it the fermenting principle with which it is charged. The timber, therefore, which has remained _sufficiently long_ in the water ought to be much less susceptible of fermentation than that seasoned only by the atmosphere. Besides, as pure water evaporates much easier than that which contains certain principles, this timber ought to be seasoned much sooner than the other.

Of steeping generally, whether in cold or warm water, it must be particularly observed that it dissolves the substance of the wood, and necessarily renders it lighter; indeed, it is known that notwithstanding wood that is carefully submerged remains good for a very long period after the water has dissolved a certain soluble part, it is, when taken out and dried, liable to be brittle, and unfit for any other work but joinery.

SEASONING BY STEAMING AND BOILING, ETC.

For the purposes of joinery, steaming and boiling are very good methods, as the loss of elasticity and strength which they produce, and which are essential in carpentry, is compensated by the tendency to shrinkage being reduced; the durability also is said by some to be rather improved than otherwise, at least from steaming. If steaming be not carried on too quickly it will answer, but if it be pushed with too much vigour it is very apt to produce a permanent warping and distortion of the material. Oak of British growth may be seasoned by this process, as without this precaution it requires a long time to season. It has been ascertained, that of woods seasoned by these methods, those dried soonest that had been steamed; but the drying in either case should be somewhat gradual, and four hours are generally sufficient for the boiling or steaming process. The question of time will depend upon circumstances: some persons consider that one hour should be allowed for every inch in thickness. In some dockyards, salt water is used in the boilers, in others fresh, from considerations of convenience; and the fact is, plank boiled in salt water never gets rid of the salts that naturally enter the pores of the wood in boiling; and such being the case, the ship in which this plank is used is much more liable to the effects of damp than she would have been if the plank had been boiled in fresh water.

Boiling and steaming are likewise employed for softening woods, to facilitate the cutting as well as bending of them. Thus, in Taylor’s patent machines for making casks, the blocks intended for the staves are cut out of white Canada oak to the size of 30 inches by 5 inches and smaller. They are well steamed, and then sliced into pieces ½ inch or ⅝ inch thick, at the rate of 200 in each minute, by a process far more rapid and economical than sawing; the instrument being a revolving iron plate of 12 feet diameter, with two radial knives arranged somewhat like the irons of an ordinary plane or spokeshave.

How far steaming or boiling affects the durability of timber has not been satisfactorily ascertained; but it is said that the planks of a ship near the bows, which are bent by steaming, have never been observed to be affected with dry rot. With respect to boiling, Du Hamel’s opinion is not favourable as to its adding to the durability of timber; for when a piece of dry wood was immersed in boiling water, and afterwards dried in a stove, it not only lost the water it had imbibed, but also a part of its substance; and when the experiment was repeated with the same piece of wood, it lost more of its substance the second time than it did the first. Tredgold--no mean authority--considers that “boiled or steamed timber shrinks less, and stands better than that which is naturally seasoned.” Barlow is of opinion that “the seasoning goes on more rapidly after the piece is steamed than when boiled.”

At the close of the Crimean and Baltic campaigns the port of Cherbourg was almost completely cleared of staves sufficiently seasoned for making casks. The engineer at the head of the coopering department determined to boil in fresh water the newly-cut staves, and compare the time of their seasoning with that of other staves cut from the same forests, but not prepared; and the result was that after four or five months’ exposure to the atmosphere, the boiled staves were perfectly fit for working up, while to bring the others to the same point fifteen months were barely sufficient.

Steaming is understood to prevent dry rot. No doubt boiling and steaming partly remove the ferment spores, but _may not_ destroy the vitality of those remaining. For, according to Milne-Edwards, on ‘Spontaneous Generation.’ he has seen tardigrades resist the prolonged action of a temperature of 248° Fahr., and has known them to survive a temperature of 284° Fahr. That low forms of vegetation are fully as tenacious of life cannot be doubted.

Boiling and steaming also coagulate the albumen at 140° Fahr. Although coagulated albumen is insoluble in water, the water solution is by this heating process sealed up in the wood, and the cohesion of the latter is said to be diminished.

The first essays in the art of drying wood artificially carry us back to a period now tolerably remote. Wollaston and Fourcroy both recommended the drying of wood in ovens. Newmann, a German chemist, suggested another method, which has since been adopted in a somewhat different form, i. e. _steaming_ the wood. Newmann placed the wood to be dried in a large wooden chest, taking care to leave spaces between the pieces, and then turned on the steam from a boiler provided for the purpose. The condensed steam, charged with albuminous matter taken up from the wood, or rather from its surface, was run off from time to time, and the process of the operation was judged by the colour of the water. When the latter was clear and colourless the chest was opened, and the wood withdrawn for use without further preparation. The process would have been useful enough if _superheated_ steam, which would have dried the wood by absorbing the moisture, could have been used, but the cost of the process would doubtless have been too high to permit of its practical application.

In 1837, M. de Mecquenem devised a method of desiccation, in which the pieces of wood to be dried were placed in a closed chamber, and subjected to a current of hot air, heated for the purpose by a special apparatus, and driven by a blower. The air entered by apertures in the lower part of the chambers, and escaped at the top laden with the moisture absorbed from the wood.

In 1839, M. Charpentier obtained a _brévet d’invention_ for a process of drying wood in hermetically-closed chambers. The wood was subjected to the action of air heated by contact with metal plates covering the flue of a coke furnace. This air entered by conduits on the level of the floor of the chamber, and escaped at the top through apertures leading into the chimney of the furnace.

In the same year, M. Saint Preuve invented a process for forcing steam into pores of the wood, and, by condensation of this steam in the pores, sucking in a preservative preparation.

In 1847, MM. Brochard and Watteau’s process was introduced. It consists simply of filling the cylinder with steam, and making a vacuum by forcing in a cold solution of salt, &c.

The plan which has been for some years in use in England is the injection, by means of a ventilator, of hot air into the drying stove where the wood is placed: by this the temperature is gently and gradually raised until it reaches boiling heat. But, as wood is one of the worst conductors known of caloric, if this plan is applied to large logs, the interior fibres still retain their original bulk, while those near the surface have a tendency to shrink; the consequence of which would be cracks and splits of more or less depth.

Timber may be dried by passing rapid currents of heated air through it under pressure. This plan was carried out with the timber used for the floorings of the Coal Exchange, London. The wood was taken in its natural state, and in less than ten days it was thoroughly seasoned. In some cases, from 10 to 48 per cent. of moisture was taken out of the wood, and although the floorings have now been down a great many years, it is stated that very little shrinkage has been found, except in the case of a few pieces which were put down in the latter portion of the work, and which had not been submitted to the seasoning process.

The process of desiccation, patented by Messrs. Davison and Symington, in 1844, is of great practical value in reducing the time requisite for seasoning timber. It is peculiarly applicable to the seasoning of flooring boards and of the wood used in joiners’ work. Care must be exercised when removing the timber from the stove to the building in which it is to be used, that it be not exposed to the wet, nor even to a damp atmosphere for any lengthened period. The advantage of this process over the ordinary stoving consists in the temperature never being so high as to scorch the wood, by which the strength of the fibres would be injured; and in the facility for removing the vapour as fast as it is expelled from the wood, in consequence of the air being propelled through the stove at any required velocity and temperature. As compared with furnace and steam-stoving ordinarily employed to desiccate woods, the great superiority of this process is established by its seasoning the wood quite as rapidly, but much more thoroughly; and instead of wood being rendered brittle, as it is to some extent by stoving, this mode does not reduce the strength and tenacity of the wood. The principle of the invention is propelled currents of heated air; but the heat has to be regulated according to the texture of the various woods. Honduras mahogany might be exposed to a heat of 300°, and the whole of the moisture can be taken out in three days. Timber 9 inches square is considered by Mr. Davison a proper size for his invention. This process is described as “A method or methods of drying, seasoning, and hardening wood, and other articles, parts of which are also applicable to the desiccation of vegetable substances generally.” The first or principal part of the invention consists in drying, seasoning, and hardening wood and other articles--among which other articles are included generally all things made of wood, or chiefly of wood--by means, as has been stated, of rapid currents of heated air. The manner in which these currents of heated air are produced, is by an apparatus consisting of a furnace and a series of pipes withinside of a core of brickwork. On each side of the furnace, on a level with the fire-bars, is a horizontal tube; communicating and springing from these tubes are a series of eighteen tubes placed vertically and parallel to each other over the furnace. The outer end of one of the horizontal tubes communicates with a fan or other impelling apparatus for driving a constant stream of atmospheric air through the tubes. As the air passes through the tubes it becomes heated at a high temperature, and rushes out at the farther end of the other horizontal tube, and is thus conveyed to the place where it is applied. The materials to be subjected to the heated currents, such as logs, deals, &c., by outward application, must be placed in closed chambers, galleries, vaults, or flues, which are to be of any suitable form or magnitude; but it is recommended that they should be made of fire-brick, and have double doors or shutters for introducing or removing the wood. Honourable Mention was made of Messrs. Davison and Symington’s process of desiccation, by the jury, Class IV., Exhibition of 1851, England.

Some amusing instances are related of the efficiency of Davison and Symington’s process. Thus, a violin had been in the owner’s possession for upwards of sixteen years; how old it was when he first had it is not known. Upon being exposed to this process it lost, in eight hours, no less than five-sixths (nearly five and two-thirds) per cent. of its own weight. This there is every reason to believe was owing to the blocks glued inside, for the purpose of holding the more slender parts together. A violin maker of high reputation, having an order to make an instrument for one of the first violinists of the day, was requested to have the wood seasoned by this process; only three days were allowed for the experiment, in which the wood was seasoned and sent home. The two heaviest pieces were reduced in weight 2½ lbs. It is ascertained that, by this means of drying, the effect of age has been given to the instrument made from the above wood, and it was, in 1848, _first fiddle_ in the orchestra of Her Majesty’s Theatre, London. The wood had been in the possession of its owners for eight years, and it was sent from Switzerland, in the first instance, as _dry wood_.

In proof of the value of this invention for the manufacture and cleansing of brewers’ casks, it was stated, in 1848, that since its adoption at Trueman’s brewery, Spitalfields, a saving of 300 tons of coals has been effected annually.

Flues or chambers for the heated air may be constructed in parallel lines, either in the floors or upright walls of a building, having narrow openings through which the heated air may issue in thin streams, and spread itself over the surface of the wood. If the openings are in the floor, the wood will require to be placed in an upright position; but if admitted in a horizontal direction, standards and skeleton shelves will be necessary to lay it upon. The great object, in all cases, is to bring the heated air as speedily as possible into contact with the wood, and to allow it, after it has done its office, to pass away as speedily.

Furnaces and apparatus for the production of rapid currents of heated air may be erected to prepare any quantity of timber or articles of wood at one time, but care should be taken that whatever the size of the outlet may be from the series of pipes or vessels by which the heat is generated, an outlet of at least equal dimensions is left for the free exit of the air and the vapours thrown off. It should also be observed, in constructing the open space in the floor or upright walls for the stream of heated air to pass towards the timber, that the superficial area of the whole of them combined does not exceed the dimensions of the principal outlet of the pipes at the extremity of the furnace, so that a free current of heated air may be allowed to pass uniformly throughout the chambers containing the wood to be prepared. The temperature proper to be given to the air, and velocity to the current in each case, will depend on the size, density, and maturity of the wood to be acted upon. The inventors found by their experiments that wood generally may be advantageously subjected to currents of air raised to a temperature of 400° Fahr., when the currents are impelled at the rate of 100 feet per second. But when the wood is in a green state, it is better to commence at a lower temperature, say from 150° to 200°, and gradually raise it to the high degree before stated, as the desiccation proceeds, an object which may, in some cases, be facilitated by carrying a cold-air drain from the fanner or other propelling apparatus, and attaching a damper to it, so that any quantity of cold air required to reduce the temperature of the hot current may, from time to time, be admitted. When, again, the wood is in the log or unconverted state, it should be bored or augured out in the centre, and the current of hot air caused to traverse it as well interiorly as exteriorly, whereby much time will be saved in the process of desiccation, and a more uniform result obtained.

Woods treated in this manner, and with the above modifications when requisite, part rapidly with their natural sap and any other aqueous matter which they may contain, and the fibres are brought closer together.

With respect to the time required to season the wood upon this plan, much must depend upon the original state of dryness it may be in, as well as the quality and temperature of the heated air forced into contact with it. It may suffice to remark that the wood may safely remain thus exposed till any escape of moisture ceases to be perceptible. This may be readily known, either by applying a mirror or any polished surface to the outlet, or by calculating the quantity of moisture removed from the wood, which will be found to range between ¼ and ⅟12th of its whole weight. For the purpose of ascertaining more correctly the amount of moisture removed from time to time, when the wood is placed in seasoning chambers as already described, an opening should be constructed in the chamber, in any convenient position, through which a specimen of the wood may be withdrawn and weighed.

Between 1848 and 1853, Mr. Bethell, who had paid much attention to the subject, obtained several patents, both in England and France, for stoves for drying wood. In his English patent of 1848, and the subsequent French one of 1853, we find a description of a peculiar kind of stove, on the following plan:

It consisted of a rectangular chamber formed of three walls and vaulted over, the whole in brickwork, with a certain thickness of slag in the centre, to prevent loss of heat. One extremity of the chamber was open to admit of the introduction of the wood by means of a truck running upon longitudinal iron rails. The opening was closed with a double door when the chamber was full. On the exterior of the opposite end of the chamber was a furnace to burn coal, coke, wood, or tar, according as it was desired to _dry_ the wood simply, or, in the words of the inventor, to _smoke_ it, i. e., to impregnate it with the antiseptic gaseous matters evolved in the imperfect combustion of certain tarry substances. The heated air or smoke entered through a flue running along the floor and branching at the end, and it escaped, or was pumped out, at the top of the vaults. Bethell considered that the interior of the chamber should be kept at a temperature of 110° Fahr., and that the duration of the process should be regulated by the condition of the wood. His experiments showed that this time varied from eight to twelve hours, the rapidity being attained at the cost of a relatively large expenditure of fuel. In point of fact, the draught was too great to permit of the utilization of the full amount of heat contained in the gaseous matter, which escaped at a temperature very little below that at which it entered. The heat produced by the fuel was badly utilized, and it is open to question whether, under any circumstances, large pieces of wood, such as sleepers, could be dried in so short a time as eight or twelve hours. The drying could only be effected by the use of a very high degree of temperature, tending to split the wood and weaken its strength. This view was confirmed by the results obtained in a long series of experiments made, in 1852-3, by an English manufacturing company, known as the Desiccating Company. A low temperature, and long continuance of the drying process, appear to be the conditions essential to the success of artificial desiccation, particularly with wood intended for cabinet-making, turning, joinery, ornamental work, &c., in which it is desirable, as far as possible, to prevent splitting, warping, and other changes of structure in the material. These results, it would seem, were not secured by the arrangements above described.

Some years since, a stove was constructed for Messrs. S. and J. Holme, very extensive builders at Liverpool, for the purpose of drying timber for floors, and other fittings of houses, &c., by the application of Messrs. Price and Manby’s patent warming apparatus; the want of seasoned timber, with the great number of men they employed, being a serious inconvenience and loss. In their large undertakings Messrs. Holme found a difficulty in keeping a stock of dry timber. The dimensions of the stove in which the timber was to be dried was 43 feet long, 11 feet wide, and 17 feet 6 inches high, and the cost of the apparatus was about 150_l_. It was calculated to hold about 30,000 superficial feet of 1-inch boards, which, upon the steam-pipe system, occupied full three weeks in drying. This apparatus of Messrs. Price and Manby, with rather less fuel, was considered to thoroughly dry each stove-full in ten days, thus saving a consumption of ten days’ fuel, independent of the advantages of expediting business. The average temperature was 104°, and as the continuous stream of pure air passing between the metallic plates was divested of its moisture, it carried off the dampness of the timber in an imperceptible manner. An experiment was tried, by having a flooring batten, 7 inches by 1¼ inch, cut from a piece of timber which had been floated, and was as full of water as it could be, placed in the stove; and when the temperature was 102°, it remained there five days, and when sawn down into ⅝ inch thick, and planed, it was found to be perfectly dry throughout. The heat was so gentle, and the evaporation so equal, that the timber was never rent, as when exposed to the air and a hot sun: in short, Messrs. Holme considered it one of the most perfect timber stoves that had been made.

It may be remarked with respect to desiccation, that the timber to be artificially dried is generally exposed to a great heat for a short time, rather than to a moderate heat for a lengthened one; and the air, saturated with the vapour thus produced, is generally very imperfectly removed. Wood so treated is almost sure to split, from the unequal contraction to which it is exposed; and the pores are also very liable to reopen on the wood being withdrawn from the stove, because there is no gradual and permanent change in their mechanical structure. It is only within the last few years past that the artificial desiccation of wood, before its impregnation with an antiseptic preparation in closed vessels, has been frequently adopted in practice.

We cannot give a better termination to the few remarks we have made about “steaming and boiling timber,” than by quoting the opinion of the late Sir Charles Barry, R.A., architect to the new Houses of Parliament, which we propose doing in the following manner:

“YORK ROAD, LAMBETH, _Nov. 30, 1844_.

SIR,

In reply to your application, we beg to acquaint you that we are willing to undertake the ordinary works required in the finishings of the new Palace of Westminster. … The wainscot to be used in the joiner’s work is assumed to be from the best Crown Riga wainscot in the logs, and from pipe-staves of the best quality, in equal proportions, to be _prepared for use by steaming_, or otherwise.…

_Grissell & Peto._”

Charles Barry, Esq.

Sir Charles Barry recommended this tender to the Treasury for acceptance; but we fancy that he was doubtful about the efficacy of steaming, as we think will appear from the following extract from an “Agreement between Sir Charles Barry and Messrs. Grissell and Peto, builders:

“_First._ That the wainscot is assumed to be from the log and pipe-staves in equal quantities; the prime cost of which, in inch boards, _seasoned by steam_, or other artificial means, so as to be fit for use, is calculated at 6½_d._ per foot superficial.

“_Secondly._ That _if it should be found necessary to make use of thoroughly dry wainscot boards_ for the whole or any portion of the joiner’s work, seasoned by natural means (viz. exposure to the atmosphere), the prime cost of such boards, with the addition of a profit of 7½ per cent., is to be allowed for them, over and above the price of 6½_d._ per foot superficial, the prime cost of wainscot boards provided for in the contract, as above stated.” (Italics are our own.)

SEASONING BY SMOKE DRYING.

Smoke drying in an open chamber, or the burning of furze, fern, shavings, or straw under the wood, is said to give it hardness and durability; and, by rendering it bitter, destroys and prevents worms. It also destroys the germ of any fungus which may have commenced. It is an old and well-founded observation that smoke drying contributes much to the hardness and durability of woods. Virgil appears to have been aware of its utility, when he wrote the passage which is thus translated by Dryden:

“Of beech, the plough-tail, and the bending yoke, Or softer linden, hardened in the smoke.”--GEORGICS, i., 225.

Beckman, in his ‘History of Inventions,’ quotes a passage from Hesiod to the same effect; and adds, “as the houses of the ancients were so smoky, it may be easily comprehended how, by means of smoke, they could dry and harden pieces of timber.” In this manner were prepared the pieces of wood destined for ploughs, waggons, and the rudders of vessels:

“These long suspend, where smoke their strength explores, And seasons into use, and binds their pores.”--VIRGIL.

The late Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Bentham bestowed much time and attention in endeavouring to ascertain the quickest and best means of drying oak. In his letter to the Navy Board, 6th March, 1812, he says: “By exposing block shells to the smoke of burning wood, they become in the course of two or three days well seasoned in every respect, hard, bright coloured, and, as it were, polished. But it was found in a very short time that the acid with which the shells were thus impregnated very rapidly corroded the iron pins which passed through them.

“In Russia many small articles, such as parts of wheels, wheel carriages, and sledges, are prepared in this manner; so are wheels, at least in some parts of America; and sabots and other small articles in France.”

In speaking of artificial heat, he says, in the same letter:

“From all the opportunities I have had of examining the state of timber so prepared by artificial heat, the due seasoning without cracking has appeared to depend on the ventilation happening to be _constant_, but very _slow_, joined to such a due regulation of the heat as that the _interior_ of the timber should dry, and keep pace in its contraction with the outer circles.”

Mr. T. W. Silloway, in ‘American Carpentry,’ remarks: “If timber be dried by heat, the outside will become hardened, and the pores closed, so that moisture, instead of passing out, will be retained within.”

Bowden remarks, “that the timbers of a small ship underwent the process of charring, either by suspending them over a fire of chips, or by burning the exterior with red-hot irons, so as to char the external surface. Air trunks were also formed between the timbers, for the purpose of evaporating moisture. The state of this vessel was examined five years after she was launched, and it appeared that, although the timbers had been very strongly charred, fungi had grown to a considerable extent on both sides abaft the fore channels, and that the plank near the magazine was completely decayed.” _The power of vegetation broke through the incrusted barrier against external affection._

A method is in operation at Tourlaville, near Cherbourg, for which the inventor, M. Guibert, has taken out a patent, and it is said to give at once more expeditious and sure results than those obtained from the use of dry and hot air. It consists in filling the drying-stove with smoke, produced by the distillation of certain combustible matters, such as sawdust, waste tan, and smiths’ coals, &c. By means of a ventilator, ingeniously arranged, a rotatory movement round the logs laid to season is given to the smoke, so as to obtain an average uniform temperature in every part. By this plan, as the distillation of combustibles is always attended with a considerable discharge of steam, all cracks and splits are said to be prevented.

There is much force in Sir Samuel Bentham’s observations respecting the drying of timber by artificial heat: it is certainly not well to attempt to dry it _too_ quickly, for if it be subjected to great heat, a large portion of the carbon will pass off, and thereby weaken the timber. Timber too suddenly dried cracks badly, and is thus materially injured: planks of larch or beech are liable to warp and twist if their drying is hastened.

STOVE DRYING.

In some of the large manufactories for cabinet work, the premises are heated by steam pipes, in which case they have a close stove in every workshop heated many degrees beyond the general temperature, for giving the final seasoning to the wood; for heating the cauls; and for warming the glue, which is then done by opening a small steam pipe into the outer vessel of the glue-pot. The arrangement is extremely clean, safe from fire, and the degree of heat is very much under control.

In some manufactories, the wood is placed for a few days before it is worked up in a drying-room heated by means of stoves, steam or hot water, to several degrees beyond the temperature to which the finished work is likely to be subjected. Such rooms are frequently made as air-tight as possible, which appears to be a mistake,[1] as the wood is then surrounded by a warm but stagnant atmosphere, which retains whatever moisture it may have evaporated from the wood.

Fire-stoves for drying the timber were placed in the magazine, bread-room, and other parts of the ‘Royal Charlotte’ ship; and the evil of this practice was soon shown, for the vessel became dry rotten in _twelve months_.[2]

Wood sometimes undergoes a baking process for veneering. Fourcroy has recommended baking timber in an oven, and he has asserted that it would render timber more durable; “but,” says Boyden, “it should be subjected to a very strong heat, lest in endeavouring to prevent vegetation, we should give it birth.” Captain Shaw[3] observes: “Any artificial heating which burns the air is most injurious to wood and all combustible materials, and renders them much more inflammable than they would be if only exposed to the temperature of the atmosphere.”

SEASONING BY SCORCHING AND CHARRING.

Scorching and charring are good for preventing and destroying infection in timber, but have to be done slowly, and only to timber that is already thoroughly seasoned; otherwise, by incrusting the surface, the evaporation of any internal moisture is intercepted, and decay in the heart soon ensues; if done hastily, cracks are also caused on the surface, and which, receiving from the wood a moisture for which there is not a sufficient means of evaporation, renders it soon liable to decay. Charring has little or no control over internal corruption, though it is a good preventive against external infection: it increases the durability of dry, but promotes the decay of wet timber. Farmers very often resort to this method for the preservation of their fence-posts; the charring should extend a little above their contact with the ground. Unless they discriminate between green and unseasoned timber, these operations will prove injurious instead of beneficial.

We have already quoted Sir Charles Barry in favour of _steaming_ wood; we now intend giving the opinion of a former pupil of his with regard to _charring_ it. Mr. George Vulliamy, architect to the Metropolitan Board of Works, in a specification for oak fencing which was fixed round the boundaries of Finsbury Park, London, in 1867, writes as follows:--“Dig out the ground for the upright standards where shall be directed, and fill in and ram round same with dry burnt earth, stones, and rubbish (the burnt clay will be provided); enclose the boundaries of Park, as shall be directed, with _dry and well-seasoned_ heart of English oak, _wrought_ upright standards, 6 inches by 5 inches, and 8 feet 6 inches total length, with cut and _splayed_ tops, holes drilled for oak pins, and mortised for horizontal rails, as shown on detailed drawings; to stand 5 feet 3 inches out of ground, and _the ends in ground to be well charred before fixing_.” (The italics are our own.)

Our ancestors used charcoal and charred wood, on account of their durability, for landmarks in the ground between estates. The incorruptibility of charcoal is well known. Amongst other advantages, rats will not touch it; neither will the white ants nor cockroaches, so common in the Indies, commit their depredations where charring has been employed.

The ‘Revue Horticole’ states that it has been proved by recent experiments, that the best mode of prolonging the duration of wood is to char it, and then paint it over with three or four coats of pitch. Many of the sleepers now laid down on the Belgian railways are charred, the engineers preferring this process to any other.

The superficial carbonization, or charring of wood, as a preservative means, has long been practised. The Venetians have used charring for timber for a long period, particularly for piles. In France, M. de Lapparent recently proposed to apply it to the timber used in the French Navy. Some experiments, which were undertaken with a view to determine its practicability, terminated satisfactorily; and the Minister of Marine ordered the process to be introduced into the Imperial dockyards.

M. de Lapparent makes use of a gas blowpipe, the flame from which is allowed to play upon every part of the piece of timber in succession. By this means the degree of torrefaction may be regulated at will. The method is applicable to woodwork of all kinds; and the charring, it is said, does not destroy the sharpness of any mouldings with which the wood may be ornamented.

In the ‘Journal des Savants,’ Feb. 15, 1666, appears the following: “The Portugals scorch their ships, insomuch that in the quick works there is a coaly crust of about an inch thick; but this is dangerous, it happening, not seldom, that the whole vessel is burnt.” It is no wonder that the Portuguese ships should frequently fire in the operation, as their plank was charred an inch deep. A mere charring, if done properly, after the timbers had been thoroughly seasoned by air, would have been sufficient.

Charring seasoned wood is known to be a most effectual mode of preservation against rot in timber: thus do piles, when charred, last for ages in water or moist soil. Charred wood has been dug up, which must have lain in the ground for 1500 years, and was then found perfectly sound. After the Temple of Diana, at Ephesus, was destroyed, it was found to have been built on charred piles; and at Herculaneum, after 2000 years, the charred wood was found to be whole and undiminished. But we find Sir Christopher Wren did not approve of charred piles, except in a soil where they would be constantly wet. So, in order to attain a firmer foundation for St. Paul’s Cathedral, he had the ground excavated to an immense depth before a stone of the building was laid.

From time immemorial it has been the practice, particularly in France, to burn the ends of the poles driven into the ground to preserve them from decay. According to the remark of the celebrated Carlomb, we should always take into serious consideration old and well-known customs; but in this instance it is easy to admit the preserving effect of carbonization. Mr. James Randall,[4] Architect, states that he “oxidated several pieces of wood with nitric acid, and with fire,” and these processes were attended with success. Nearly the last sentence in his work is, “_oxidation only_ can be relied on, in all cases, as an effectual cure.”

In charring, the surface of the timber is subjected to a considerable heat, the primary effect of which is to exhaust the sap of the epidermis, and to dry up the fermenting principles. Here this is done by long exposure to the air; and, in the second place, below the outside layer completely carbonized, a scorched surface is found, that is to say, partly distilled and impregnated with the products of that distillation, which is creosoted; the antiseptic properties of which are well known.

When Mr. Binmer was examined before the Commissioners of Woods, Forests, &c., in 1792, he stated “that all steamed plank should be afterwards dried and _burnt_ to extract the moisture.”

To a spontaneous carbonization must be attributed also the unchangeableness of that timber entirely black, which is met with everywhere in digging up the ground, where it has laid buried for ages. In the neighbourhood of St. Malo, France, these specimens are very common, and there most of the espaliers and vine props are made of wood, black as ebony, and famous for its durability. They have been cut from the trees of an old forest, submerged in the eighth century by an inroad of the sea, which formerly crossed a Roman road, leading from Brittany to Cotentin.

Not long after the beginning of the eighteenth century, the method of heating or charring timber, before it was worked up, and also that of stoving--that is, of heating in kilns with sand--were practised in the Royal dockyards. The ‘Royal William,’ one of the most remarkable instances of durability that the British Navy has supplied, was built either wholly or in part of timber that had been charred. It was launched in 1719; never repaired until 1757; and then, when surveyed afloat, in 1785, it appeared that the thick stuff and plank had been _burnt_ instead of being _kilned_; and that the ends of the beams, the faying parts of the breast-hooks, crutches, resters, knees, &c., had been gouged in a manner then practised, which was called _snail-creeping_; by means of which the air was conveyed to the different parts of the ship.[5]

The reason this method has not been persevered in, but nearly abandoned, is owing to many causes: the difficulty and danger of the means adopted for charring, when either straw, fern, or shavings are made use of; the serious objection of burning the timber too deeply; or the encumbrance of the apparatus, and the length of time occupied, if sand-kilns sufficiently heated are used; and, finally, to indifference, or that system of routine, against which the wisest plans often contend in vain.

In house-building, the charring process should be applied to the beams and joists embedded in the walls, or surrounded with plaster; to the joists of stables, washhouses, &c., which, although exposed to the free air, are constantly surrounded by a warm and moist atmosphere, an active cause of fermentation; to the wainscotting of ground floors; to the flooring beneath parquet work; to the joints of tongues and rabbets; for carbonization by means of gas still leaves to the wood, for working purposes, all the sharpness of its edges. Charring is particularly useful in the junction of all broad surfaces, and more essentially in those which are cut either transverse or oblique to the grain of the wood, as the sap vessels are then exposed to the absorption of moisture. The butts of timbers are peculiarly liable to rot, because of affording a lodgment for moisture without a free passage for air. No seasoned timber should have its tubular parts exposed, nor should any timber have the saw marks upon it, because the torn filaments absorb and retain moisture. Allusion has already been made to the process adopted, near Cherbourg, for preventing the decay of timber by means of gas.

By carbonization, a practical and economical means is afforded to railway companies of preserving, almost for ever, the sleepers, and particularly oak, which cannot be impregnated easily by the injection of mineral salts. Let us suppose, for instance, that after, say ten or fifteen years, the sleepers on a line are taken up for the length of a mile, and replaced by new ones; the old, when rasped and burnt again, will serve for the replacing the following mile, and so on, one mile after the other. It might be equally serviceable to apply the same process to injected beech, for the reason that it is almost impossible to make the preserving liquid penetrate thoroughly the mass of the timber.

SEASONING BY EXTRACTION OF SAP.

Mr. John Stephen Langton’s method of seasoning by extraction of the sap was patented in 1825, but is now almost wholly discontinued. It consists in letting the timber into vertical iron cylinders, standing in a cistern of water, closing the cylinders at top; and the water being heated, and steam used to produce a partial vacuum, the sap relieved from the atmospheric pressure oozes from the wood, and being converted into vapour, passes off through a pipe provided for the purpose. The time required is about ten weeks, and the cost is about ten shillings per load; but the sap is wholly extracted, and the timber is said to be fit and ready for any purpose; the diminution of weight is, with a little more shrinkage, similar to that in seasoning by the common natural process.[6]

Mr. Barlow’s patent provided for exhausting the air from one end of the log while one or more atmospheres press upon the other end. This artificial aerial circulation through the wood is prolonged at pleasure. However excellent in theory, this process is not practicable.

In October, 1844, M. Tissier proposed to place wood in a close vessel, and subject it to a current of hot dry air; and in 1847, Mr. Miller proposed to inject hot air through beams of wood to drive out the sap.

In 1851, M. Meyer d’Uslaw proposed to first dilate the pores of the wood with steam, and then place it in a hermetically closed chamber, and make a vacuum there.

The following system of preparing timber for the Navy was, not many years since, adopted in South Russia. A full account of the practice will be found in Oliphant’s ‘Russian Shores of the Black Sea,’ 1853. The only name we can give it is

“‘SEASONING’ BY BRIBES.”

A certain quantity of well-seasoned oak being required, Government issues tenders for the supply of the requisite amount. A number of contractors submit their tenders to a board appointed for the purpose of receiving them, who are regulated in the choice of a contractor not by the amount of his tender, but of his bribe. The _fortunate_ individual selected immediately sub-contracts upon a somewhat similar principle. Arranging to be supplied with the timber for half the amount of his tender, the sub-contractor carries on the game, and perhaps the eighth link in this contracting chain is the man who, for an absurdly low figure, undertakes to produce the _seasoned_ wood.

His agents in the central provinces accordingly float a quantity of green pines and firs down the Dnieper and Bog to Nicholaeff, which are duly handed up to the head contractor, each man pocketing the difference between his contract and that of his neighbour. When the wood is produced before the board appointed to inspect it, another bribe _seasons_ it; and the Government, after paying the price of well-seasoned oak, is surprised that the 120-gun ship, which it has been built of it, is unfit for service in five years.

“Mark but my fall, and that that ruin’d me, Corruption.”--SHAKSPEARE.

A few words can only be given to a most important matter, viz., the _second seasoning_, which many woods require. If floor-boards are only laid down at first on the joists of a building, and at the expiration of one year wedged tight and nailed down, those unsightly openings caused by shrinkage, which form a harbour for dirt and vermin, will be avoided, as the wood will have had an opportunity of shrinking. Doors, sashes, architraves in long lengths, will also be better if made up some time before they are required for use. Many Indian woods require a second seasoning--kara mardá, for instance, a favourite wood with Indian railway engineers. Even sál and teak are not exempt. Teak shrinks sideways least of all woods. In the ‘Tortoise,’ store ship, when fifty years old, no openings were found to exist between the boards; yet Colonel Lloyd says he found the teak timbers used by him in constructing a large room in the Mauritius to have shrunk ¾ of an inch in 38 feet. Thus a space of ⅜ of an inch must have been left at each end of the beam, where moisture could lodge and fungi exist, obtaining their nourishment from the wood. If unseasoned teak is used for ships, dry rot will in time find a place. It may be said that teak is a very hard wood, and very durable; yet “the mills of the gods,” says an ancient philosopher, “grind slow, very slow, but they grind to powder;” _and so do the fungi mills_.