oak's pores are not plugged. Therefore red oak is not suitable for the best kind of tight cooperage. The condition of the pores, whether they are plugged or not, explains why fewer woods are available for tight than for slack cooperage. Only the best wood is used as barrels for alcoholic liquors; but some other woods will do for other kinds of liquors, such as brine for pork, vinegar for pickles, and for certain oils.'

Descriptive of the tests on barrels made by the Forest Products Laboratory we show herewith five cuts, the first illustrating the side-compression test. In this test the barrel was placed between two flat surfaces and compressed in the direction of its diameter. The rate of compression was 0.25 inch per minute and simultaneous readings of load, compression and loss of water from the barrel were taken. The test was discontinued when onehalf the water had escaped.

The second test is known as the diagonal-compression test, the barrel being compressed between two flat surfaces and supported on one edge or chime and loaded on the other. The rate of compression in this case was the same as in test number one. The side-drop test is shown in plate three, in this case the barrel being dropped on a wooden platform about 311⁄2 inches thick which was covered with a steel plate % inch thick, the platform resting on the concrete floor of the laboratory. The first drop was three inches, the next six, and so on, the length of drop being increased three inches each time. The test was continued until one-half the contents of the barrel had escaped.

The diagonal-drop test, shown in plate four, is the same as the side-drop except that the barrel is dropped on the edge. In the internal pressure test, plate five, the barrel and connecting pipes were filled with water in such a way as to exclude all air as far as possible. The pressure was then raised to two pounds per square inch and held for two minutes. The pressure was then raised to four pounds and held for two minutes. The process was continued, increasing the pressure two

pounds each time and holding it constant for two minutes, until one pound of water ran from the barrel in one minute or less. With the data of these tests as a guide the laboratory was able to suggest some very valuable improvements in the barrels experimented with.

This chapter should be read in connection with other chapters of this book, which mention and discuss barrel containers. In the chapter on cement will be found interesting data and photographs.

CHAPTER VIII

CLIMATE AND PORT FACILITIES AFFECTING MANNER OF PACKING

PR

ROVIDING for transhipment is not alone a question of export packing sufficiently good to stand being taken from the ship's hold and dropped into a lighter, frequently under very severe conditions; it may involve much more than that. For example, after the package is taken from the ship it may be necessary to tranship it by cart, burro, llama, bullock, camel, man, or in some other way. Therefore it is not alone a question of packing goods well, it is also a question of packing them to meet these special conditions. Generally it may be said that a mule can carry from 200 to 250 pounds, a burro from 150 to 200, a llama about 100, and a camel from 350 to 450. In making up packages for transportation by any of these beasts, however, the package should be only one-half of the indicated weight. Transportation by animals generally takes place by strapping a package on each side of the beast, so as to balance the load. Thus the mule would carry two packages of 100 pounds each, the burro two of 75 to 100, and so on. With reference to human transportation the weight that can be carried varies greatly. Any one who has seen the Mexican peon, a Peruvian Indian, or a Turkish hammal (porter) trotting along under huge burdens would be inclined to conclude that there was almost an unlimited capacity. But it may be stated that the general average load for a man is from 100 to 150 pounds.

Climatic Conditions as Affecting Packing.-Climatic conditions have a very important influence on the character of the package, and this offers another opportunity to insist on a little preliminary study of geography. This statement applies no matter what the direction of

the compass. For example, a shipment may be going to Nova Scotia and the manufacturer may think that his usual Canadian packing will suffice, but he overlooks the fact that the climate of Nova Scotia is very damp and that his metal goods should be much more carefully protected than is the case for shipments to more usual Canadian points. Moving to another part of the world, to Honduras for example, we find that the rainy season lasts for from five to six months, and the rainy season there is no mere figure of speech as it is in many cases.

In Honduras goods must be carefully packed for protection against moisture if the shipment is to arrive in good shape. Shipments for Salvador or Peru which are transhipped into lighters are exposed to sea water, while exposure to torrential rains is characteristic not alone of shipments to Colombia and many parts of South America, but also to many other sections of the world.

Another peril goods have to face is intense heat. It frequently happens that goods are stowed near the boilers of ships or that they are subject to intense tropical heat, as in Colombia or India. Moreover, in many countries the air is heavily charged with humidity, to such an extent that fungoid growths are produced frequently destroying or rendering useless many valuable shipments. It may be that the foreign buyer is unreasonable in expecting the exporter to know all about these many different conditions, and not alone to know about them but to guard against them by packing that protects the goods. But, be this as it may, there are some exporting houses that are acquainted with the conditions and that take proper precautions to protect their shipments, and these are the houses that eventually get the business.

What They Do in the Ports.-Another important point to be considered is the port conditions. Because we have ideal port conditions in New York and in many of the other shipping centers of the United States, it does not follow that there is anything similar in other countries. To be sure, there are countries where port conditions are superior even to those of the United States, but none

the less there are vast sections of the world where port facilities are practically unknown, and this is true particularly of many parts of South America. Later in this chapter there will be quoted a description of transhipment at a South American West Coast port.

Foreign Transportation and Its Difficulties.-Goods may be carried for many days in ox carts, as is the case in Honduras. Goods sent by parcel post, packed by the Post Office in bags or cases, are tossed from a wagon to a wharf, from wharf to the hold of the ship with other packages of various descriptions on top as a rule, and when taken from the ship they are dropped into a lighter and again and again go through the same process, each time receiving shocks of various kinds. Or it may be, as in Colombia, that the lighter packages are usually selected by the porters and muleteers, and the heavy boxes left until such time as conditions admit of their transportation. But this time may be many weeks, even months, after the arrival of the goods, and many things may happen during these weeks and months.

Where Conditions Are Trying. The two principal conditions existing in foreign markets which require the attention and consideration of American shippers in preparing their packages for export, are climatic conditions as existing in the tropical countries, of which India may be taken as one of the most striking illustrations, and the primitive development, even the total lack, of harbor and port facilities which many ports in Central and South America may best illustrate. Many Americans who have not traveled widely over the world have not the faintest conception of what a really tropical climate means with its excessive humidity, its rainy and its dry seasons, the danger of ravages by insects, etc. Similarly, few people who have not seen for themselves or studied in books or photographs the conditions under which goods are landed in some of the Latin-American ports, can begin to understand what it is like for a steamer to anchor from two to four miles off shore and tranship its cargo into lighters bobbing up and down in a heavy