There is less danger of sap rot when trees are felled in winter because the fungus does not grow in the very cold weather, and the lumber has a chance to season to below the danger point before the fungus gets a chance to attack it.  If the logs in each case could be cut into lumber immediately after felling and given exactly the same treatment, for example, kiln-dried, no difference due to the season of cutting would be noted.

WATER CONTENT[48]

[Footnote 48:  See Tiemann, H.D.:  Effect of moisture upon the strength and stiffness of wood.  Bul. 70, U.S.  Forest Service, Washington, D.C., 1906; also Cir. 108, 1907.]

Water occurs in living wood in three conditions, namely:  (1) in the cell walls, (2) in the protoplasmic contents of the cells, and (3) as free water in the cell cavities and spaces.  In heartwood it occurs only in the first and last forms.  Wood that is thoroughly air-dried retains from 8 to 16 per cent of water in the cell walls, and none, or practically none, in the other forms.  Even oven-dried wood retains a small percentage of moisture, but for all except chemical purposes, may be considered absolutely dry.

The general effect of the water content upon the wood substance is to render it softer and more pliable.  A similar effect of common observation is in the softening action of water on rawhide, paper, or cloth.  Within certain limits the greater the water content the greater its softening effect.

Drying produces a decided increase in the strength of wood, particularly in small specimens.  An extreme example is the case of a completely dry spruce block two inches in section, which will sustain a permanent load four times as great as that which a green block of the same size will support.

The greatest increase due to drying is in the ultimate crushing strength, and strength at elastic limit in endwise compression; these are followed by the modulus of rupture, and stress at elastic limit in cross-bending, while the modulus of elasticity is least affected.  These ratios are shown in Table XV, but it is to be noted that they apply only to wood in a much drier condition than is used in practice.  For air-dry wood the ratios are considerably lower, particularly in the case of the ultimate strength and the elastic limit.  Stiffness (within the elastic limit), while following a similar law, is less affected.  In the case of shear parallel to the grain, the general effect of drying is to increase the strength, but this is often offset by small splits and checks caused by shrinkage.

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