The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1868-01-09
Trees Rendered Impervious to
~. DacAV

kAuuIcSs A>os AcH A>e>S
sau ST., New York.
Trees Rendered Impervious to
Decay.
From the Chicago Post Ang 22d, 1850.
MIR. EDIToR.- All your readers, and
more especially the farming community,
are directly interested in dollars aud
cents, in any scheme available to all at
low cost. by which the life OF timber
can be prolonged and the process Of de-
cay arrested.
For long years experiments have been
in progress and several methods discov-
cred by which this object can be accom-
plshed, but the machinery and lnateri-
ais required have been of SO costly a
character as to place them out Of the
reach of the public generally, and REM
der them available only for large estab-
lishments that were able to invest S20,-
900 to 5000 in the necessary machin-
cry. Kyanizing, Burnettinig, Bethel's,
Boncheries, Hamer's and other process
es have ali proved successful, but their
cost has rendered them unfit for general
use, and has confined them to few
heavy bridge builders and other opera
tors, who concentrating large quantities
of timber ut single point for use, can
afford these expensive processes.
Common rot in timber produces the
same changes and results as active COM
bustion, with only the difference that
the one requires q few years to accom-
plish what the other effects in ten min
utes.
1t is to some condition Of the sap that
the decay of timber must be attributed,
and it is now commonly understood to
be due to vegetable growth, which
Ia gS ,.l.a within n the pflrnS m the wood
the sap having carried off the minute
seeds of the fungus during the growth
of the tree.
Seasoning in the dry air, simply hard
ems the destructive juices with the germs
of decay they contain, thus rendering
them harmless SO long as they remain in
this condition, but upon exposure to
dampness new life is given to these
germs and the growth of decay recon-
mences.
The entire eapulsion of the sap, aud
substitution therefor of some substance
with antiseptic qualities can alone pre-
vent ultimate decay, and just SO far as
this can be accomplished, so far decay
can be prevented.
That this can be done completely, and
that too by the means of mineral sub
stances, is proven cDnclusiveIy by nature
herself, i'm the millions Of cedars and live
oaks that have been embedded for CEN
turies in the sWamps Of our Southern
| States, in climate most favorable to
decay, and which when brought to the
air, are yet in condition to resist decay
| for other centuries if not absolutely inn
! perishable. What has rendered them so"
A careful and scientific analysis has
rendered the nature of the mineral in
gradients by means of which nature
has produced these results, and a long
series of practical experiments has prov
en- that these agents may De diftused
| through the pores Of the timber as ma
ture herself has done in the instance
| quoted, arithout the use of mochinery Or
I external pressure, by simply placing the
Ingredients within reach of the capilla-
ry attraction of the pores, where they
" ill saon abso b it and ditfuse it through
the wood, substituting in the place Of
the SAD compound which destroys the
Germs o. decay. The lighter and more
porous ", ,ods should be effected more
readily ana effectually, and experiment
shows that tits is actually the casc.-
Cottonwood, VIII, te poplar and all that
class of light, poro,,.s timbers, which in
their natural State are almost worthless
for timbers, absorbing the compound
and becoming thoroughly impreghateu
with a rapidity truly astonl,-hing, ana
acquiring Il durability far exceeding
that of oak and other harder tim bers III
their natural state, while the harder TIM
bers though slower in absorption become
when thus prepared, proportionately
durable.
This method Of preserving timber
recently patented and termed by the
Patent Office, Formanizing, in honor of
its discoverer, B. S. Foreman, Is des-
tined to do more for the prairies Of
this country than any discovery Of the
age, by rendering cottonwood, white
poplar, soft maple and other of the rapid
growing class OF trees, now regarded as
worthless, except for shade and fuel,
more desirable for use as fence posts,
rails, railroad ties, &C., than the best
cedar and oak now are.
It's cheapncss brings it within the
reach OF every one, and the manner Of
its use can be comprehended by the
simplest capacity.
1t consists in simply boring one or
ing the cavity with this composition, q
white powder resembling common fine
salt, and plugging up the hole, costing
about two cents for post, and ten
cents for railroad tie. Railroad ties Of
fwhite-wood, which our railroad COM
panies further west find themselves
obliged to use and which now scarcely
last while they are being laid down will
be rendered more durable than the best
oak and chestnut ties used East, now
are in their natural state, and more ten
acious of spike.
The importance Of this discovery both
to our Railroad Companies and the
Agricultural interest can hardly be
over-estimated, and the subject Is we'll
worthy being brought through your col