OREGON FOREST PRODUCTS
LABORATORY
LIßRARY
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26
UNiTED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION
BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY.
SOILS, AND AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING
DIVISION OF FOREST PATHOLOGY
BELTSVILLE. MARYLAND
AND THE
FOREST PRODUCTS LABORATORY
FOREST SERVICE
MADISON 5, WISCONSIN
(LU
SHIPPED GREEN CAN BE PROTECTED AGAINST DECAY
By
)
CARLARTLEY, Pathologist
Division of Forest Patho1ogyJ'
Bureau of plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering
Agricultural Research Administration
United States Department of Agriculture
Its higher shipping weight, poorer
green lumber.
nail-holding power, and shrinkage after fabrication are well known, hut
the present pressure for deliveries results in much of it being accepted..
other major objection to lumber shipped green is that it may be damaged
by wood-decaying fungi, either in transit or soon after it is pti.t into use.
The chance for such damage can be greatly decreased by dipping the lumber
in a toxic solution at the sawmill.
No one prefers
The blueThe most serious type of fungu$ .eterioration is decay.
stain and surface-mold fungi sometimes make trouble if the wood is to be
used for containers, chiefly by ob$curing labels, hut they rarely cause any
serious weakening. Decay, on the other hand, is due to a very different
type of fungus growth that can materially weaken wood before the infection
Bending strength and toughness or shock resistance
is easily recognized.
may be reduced before there is any conspicuous effect on the appearance of
The effect of fungi o,piechanthe wood or any easily recognized softening.
Inbal properties of wood is described in available publications..''J
fections that have started in transit, but have not yet done real damage,
too often continue to develop in later service before the wood has a chance
to dry.
In some cases that have come to the attention of the Division of
Forest Pathology, walls and floors in which building papers or unventilated
oducts Laboratory, maintained by the
Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Nadison 5, Wis., in
cooperation with the Univers ity of Wisconsin.
i/In cooperation with the Forest
Scheffer, T. C. Progressive effects of Polyporus versicolor on the
physical and chemical properties of red gum sapwood. U. S. Dept. Agr.
Bui. 527, 14.5 pp., illus., Sept. 1936.
T. C., Wilson, T. R. C., Luxfod, R. F., and Hartley, Carl.
The effect of certain heart rot fungi on the specific gravity and
U. S. Dept. Agr. Tech. Bul,
strength of Sitka spruce and Douglas-fir.
779, 24. pp., illus., May 194-l.
Soheffer,
Dipping helps to conserve strength
Vi1son, T. R. C., and Richards, C. A.
Amer. Lbrrnn.
of lumber.
South. Lbrmn. l6(l973):3O, June 15, l93;
3126:6g, May 21, l93
Timberman 39(7):14, May l93.
For
.Path.Spec.RLJTo.26
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OREGON FOREST PROD?JCTS
LIBRARy
foundations hindered vapor movement, and roof supports in which thick framIng material or joint assemblies delayed drying, have decayed soon after
fabrication to a point requiring extensive replacements.
There is more
possibility of decay now than formerly, not only because more lumber is
shipped green, but also because of the higher proportion of susceptible
sapwood in much of the lumber now being cut.
In some species the heartvrood
also Is susceptible,
Fortunately, it has been found that chemicals used. successfully
against sap stain and mold in lumber for air-seasoning are SIso generally
effective against decay in bulk-piled lumber. Dipped fir, spruce, and
Western hemlock have been bulk-piled experimeutally in Washington and Oregon
for 12 months without apparent damage, while untreated boards in the same
piles were heavily Infected with decay fungi.
Southern pine and hardwoods
also have been protected by these dips, but the tests in the South have
been for shorter bulking periods. The cost for chemicals is about 1 cent
per gallon of solution at usual strengths, or, when they are applied without
waste, about 15 cents per thousand board feet of lumber. Chemical solutions
that have been successful in retarding decay in tests by the Division of
Forest Pathology Include the following:
pounds in loo
gallons of water
Chemical
Lignasan (contains ethyl mercuric phosphate)....
2
Dowicide H (sodium tetrachiorophenate) ....... ..,
7
Santobrite or Dowicide G (sodium pentachlorophenate)......
7
Permatox lOS .............
.
10
..........
A mixture made of
SantobriteorDowjcideG.....,...,
Powdered 'borax. ..................
3
...
........
12
A mixture made of
SantoljriteorDowjcmjdeg...................,
Llgnasan.
............
.
.
Powdered borax ..... ........ .............. t..
*
.
.
.
.
. .
.
. .
s .
.
. . . .
.
s
2
3/)1
Permatox 103 contains Dowicide G and 'borax. The first mixture
listed can be duplicated by using 7-1/2 pounds of Permatox lOS and 7-1/2
pounds of powdered 'borax in 100 gallons of water. The second mixture can
be duplicated by using 5 pounds of Fermatox 103, 3/tl pound of Lignasan, and
5 pounds of 'borax in 100 gallons of water.
Noxtne and others of the newer
chemicals sold for sap-stain control were not included in the earlies'ttests
and are not listed because of insufficient data on the concentrations of
them needed to prevent decay in 'bulk-piled lumber.
For.Path.Speo.Release No.26
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Lìgnaan can iDe obtained from the . I. duPont deTemours & Company
of Wilmington 9, Del. , anci Tacoma, 1ash. The Dowiciìes and Permatox 1O
are surDlied for uae on wood 'bv 3,. D. Chapman & Company, Inc., 1ocate1 at
Chicago 1, Iii., Ne Orleane 12, La., and Portland 5, Oreg. Sontobrite is
supriieci. bçr the Monsanto Chemical Company, $t. Louis )4, Mo. , or I. P. Laucks,
Inc. , Seattle )4, Wash. Porax can IDO obtained from a number of chemical
supply houses.
antobrìte, Dowicie C-, ¿nL Permatox lO can be o'otainecl.
in reayTeihec3. packages for madn 100 al1ons , but the inre3.cnts for
the tjo mixtures must be weighed anL mixed. when mkin the solutions.
rnmiber of
for these
tsts
on
different kinLs of lumber have inicat&
)ait1
efficiency
the shin irritation that
ana. they have not caused.
from solutions containing larger amounts of the chlorophenates. In mixtures with borax, socìim :pentac1lororhenate has boon somevrhat more effective against decay than Lignasan or Doricie H in the 'bulic.
pilin: tests so far run.
sometimes
two
mixtures ,
results
strengths of solution advise are for stock of ordinar thickness for usuci periods of time.
or best assurance of :orotection through
long ?eriod s in bulk piles or for large timbers, olutionc as strön as
1_1/2 to 2 times the listed strengths ar advisable. For sawe1. tim'oe?s
the banefits from ciipping are less certain d aoublc-trength solutions
The
-
shouU
'be
ìisea.
Treating is uua1ly donL at the larger mills and concentrtion
yares by passing the conveyor chain through a ciiping vat an involves
little aitional labor. t some mills, timbers ana, less often, lumDer
is effective
are treate9. b means of spraying eqjiipment. This
Illustrations o:' llpping vats are
if ai] surfaces are thorou'h1y
supp1iea in U. S. Department of
riculture Technical 13ulletn 714 and. in
literature çit out by the chemical manufacturers. At mal1 mills are
dipping is clone by hana the full time of at least one additional man
usually is reQuired.
tte.
Por best results the treatinL should be done ritiiin 24 hours after
hours will a1io stain
In rarm weather dela:T of more than
infection an maTT also Permit docar fungi to get a foothold. ut when
lumber is :laned the ci-emicals are mainly lost with the shavings. If it
is dressed soon after sarin, the (ipin: should be dono immediately after
dressing instead of as it comes from the sar. The btst course for material
that is shipeod green i; to
both after sawifl; an:. after planin ;, if the
interval 'oettreen the two operations exceeds 3 dar. Of course, dippifl?j at
any time is only partly effect.ve on lumber from old loas in which infection
has already started.
sawing.
L
Dipiing treatment Is not to 'be confused with more permanent
preservation, which req.uirea that the wood 'be impregnated.
Decay
retardation obtainable
by the use of
staIn
wood
reventiv&35 does
not warrant the use of green lumber when cìrr lumber can he obtained.
Por. Path,Spec.eîease
7o, 26
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