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 chance to dry out before or after it was placed in use. The wood which was exposed to decaying influences was generally selected from those woods which, whatever their other qualities might be, would resist decay longest. To-day conditions have changed, so that wood can no longer be used to the same extent as in former years. Inferior woods with less lasting qualities have been pressed into service. Although haphazard methods of cutting and subsequent use are still much in vogue, there are many signs that both lumbermen and consumers are awakening to the fact that such carelessness and wasteful methods of handling wood will no longer do, and must give way to more exact and economical methods. The reason why many manufacturers and consumers of wood are still using the older methods is perhaps because of long custom, and because they have not yet learned that, though the saving to be obtained by the application of good methods has at all times been appreciable, now, when wood is more valuable, a much greater saving is possible. The increased cost of applying economical methods is really very slight, and is many times exceeded by the value of the increased service which can be secured through its use.