has become a part of almost
every woodworking industry, as without it the construction of the
finished product would often be impossible. Nevertheless much
unseasoned or imperfectly seasoned wood is used, as is evidenced by
the frequent shrinkage and warping of the finished articles. This is
explained to a certain extent by the fact that the manufacturer is
often so hard pressed for his product that he is forced to send out an
inferior article, which the consumer is willing to accept in that
condition rather than to wait several weeks or months for an article
made up of thoroughly seasoned material, and also that dry kilns are
at present constructed and operated largely without thoroughgoing
system.

Forms of kilns and mode of operation have commonly been copied by one
woodworking plant after the example of some neighboring establishment.
In this way it has been brought about that the present practices have
many shortcomings. The most progressive operators, however, have
experimented freely in the effort to secure special results desirable
for their peculiar products. Despite the diversity of practice, it is
possible to find among the larger and more enterprising operators a
measure of agreement, as to both methods and results, and from this to
outline the essentials of a correct theory. As a result, properly
seasoned wood commands a high price, and in some cases cannot be
obtained at all.

Wood seasoned out of doors, which by many is supposed to be much
superior to kiln-dried material, is becoming very scarce, as the
demand for any kind of wood is so great that it is thought not to pay
to hold it for the time necessary to season it properly. How long this
state of affairs is going to last it is difficult to say, but it is
believed that a reaction will come when the consumer learns that in
the long run it does not pay to use poorly seasoned material. Such a
condition has now arisen in connection with another phase of the
seasoning of wood; it is a commonly accepted fact that dry wood will
not decay nearly so fast as wet or green wood; nevertheless, the
immense superiority of seasoned over unseasoned wood for all purposes
where resistance to decay is necessary has not been sufficiently
recognized. In the times when wood of all kinds was both plentiful and
cheap, it mattered little in most cases how long it lasted or resisted
decay. Wood used for furniture, flooring, car construction, cooperage,
etc., usually got some