by chain
conveyor or blower.]

[Illustration: Fig. 54. Scrap-Pile. Oscilla. Georgia.]

But, for a number of reasons, radial boards are better. They warp
less because the annual rings cross the board more evenly. Yellow pine
flooring that is rift-sawn is more valuable than slash-sawn, because
the edge of the annual rings makes a more even grain, Fig. 55. Where
slash-grained flooring is used, the boards should be laid so that the
outside of each board will be up in order that the inner rings may not
"shell out."

[Illustration: Fig. 55. Slash-Grain and Comb-Grain Flooring.]

In sawing oak for valuable furniture or trim, the log is first
"quartered" and then the quarters sawn up as nearly radially as is
desired. There are various methods of cutting quartered logs, as
illustrated in Fig. 56.

[Illustration: Fig. 56. Methods of Sawing Quartered Logs.]

In making staves for water-tight barrels, it is essential that they be
cut radially in the log, in order that the staves be as non-permeable
to water as possible.

[Illustration: Fig. 57. Lumber-Kiln.]

SAWMILLING.

REFERENCES:[*]

Trout, Cassier 11: 83, 184.
Woodcraft 5: 56, May '06.

[Footnote *: For general bibliography see p. 4.]

CHAPTER III.

SEASONING.

The seasoning of wood is important for several reasons. It reduces
weight, it increases strength, it prevents changes in volume after it
is worked into shape, and it prevents checking and decay. Decay can
also be prevented by submergence and burying, if by so doing logs are
kept from fungal attacks. The piles of the Swiss Lake dwellings, which
are in a state of good preservation, are of prehistoric age. Wood
under water lasts longer than steel or iron under water. But for
almost all purposes wood has to be dried in order to be preserved. The
wood is cut up, when green, to as thin pieces as will be convenient
for its use later, for the rate of drying depends largely upon the
shape and size of the piece, an inch board drying more than four times
as fast as a four inch plank, and more than twenty times as fast as a
ten inch timber.

There are various methods of seasoning:

(1) Natural or air-seasoning is the most common, and in some respects
the best. In this method, the wood is carefully and regularly piled in
the seasoning-yard, so as to be protected as far as possible from sun
and rain, but with air circulating freely on all sides of the boards,
Fig. 47, see p. 38. To accomp