Toughness of Sapwood in Water-Sprayed Longleaf Pine Logs

Ten longleaf pines (Pinus palustris Mill.) near Gulfport, Mississippi, were felled during the summer, and three 5-footlong bolts (1.5 m) were bucked from each stem. The trees were 10 to 14 inches (25 to 35 cm) in diameter at breast height. Before the bolts were cut, the stem of each felled tree was marked on the north side, so that all boards later ripped from the bolts would be in the same plane. One bolt from each tree was then randomly assigned to each of three treatments: no storage (bolt processed on the day the tree was cut), 4-months’ storage under a continuous water spray, and 9-months’ storage under a continuous spray. The toughness of sapwood in stored logs was significantly less (0.05 level) than in logs sawed the day the trees were felled. Toughness values in logs stored 4 months were not significantly different from values after 8 months. Since evidence from other work suggests that the cellulose component of sapwood in logs stored under water spray is well protected, the reduction in toughness observed in this study is thought to represent destruction of some noncellulosic component.

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