The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1881-10-28
Coal Tar for Posts and Wagon. Paint.


using coal tar on fence posts. grape
stakes, etc. l erected grape arbor
with pine studding four by four inches
square, set two feet in the ground. Be-
fore putting them in the ground, gave
them coat of coal tar, about two and
one-half feet of the lower end. I do not
recollect whether the tar was hot or
only warmed in the sun. The arbor
was taken down after standing eigh-
teen years, and the posts were nearly
all sound; some of them had began to
decay at the surface of the ground.
Soon after that 1 had a sheet-iron
tank or kettle made, three feet high,
and two feet in diameter, to heat the
tar in. 1t was set on brick or stone, so
as to put wood and chips under; with
the care to get it far enough from the
buildings to be safe from fire. Three
posts were set in the ground and q
board nailed on to lean the posts against
as they were set in the kettle, to pre-
vent turning the kettle over A wood
lattice was put in the bottom of the
kettle to prevent the posts from bruis-
ing the sheet-iron kettle with their
weight on the bottom. l put in eight
or ten posts at time; heating the tar
to boiling, and keeping it hot and filled
with tar to its top when the posts were
in. Let them remain about fifteen
minutes, then take out and put others
in.
I also constructed a grape trellis with
two small stakes five feet high. to fast
en- wires to. Those two stakes were
set bracing, and fastened with a wire
hinge at the foot to a short stake driven
in the ground; trellis so constructed as
to let it down in winter. These short
stakes which were to go in the ground.
were boiled in the tar. They were
many of them of pine sappy wood, very
liable to rot, and ten or twelve years
after, on pulling them up, most of them
were sound. These several experiences
have proved to me that coal tar thus
applied on dry wood is of great service
to assist the durability of posts and
stakes.
Ibegan to apply coal tar to my wagon
wheels five years ago. On warm day
in summer the tar is sufficiently thin.
but in cool weather l would advise
heating it. Have the wheels clean and
dry, and be careful that every Joint or
crack is filed with tar. An old paint
brush or rag closely wrapped on the
end of a stick will do, with a small
brush or swab, to finish up at each end
of the spokes, the hub and the felly. 1t
is hard, durable and impervious to
water. This is the object of paint. 1t
is the best paint ever used. If l
should order new wagon l would Or
der the wood work-not only the wheels
but all the wood of the wagon-yes, the
wagon-box-all first painted with coal
tar. A very desirable thing it would
be to keep the bottom of the wagon-box
from swelling and shrinking.
Last year l painted my old rattletrap
buggy all over but the cushions with
coal tar. 1t frightened the spokes and
entirely stopped its rattle by filing its
crevices and many loose joints. The
wagon tires will only need setting one
half as often as they will without the
coal tar, if when it is worn off the fellys
they are painted over again with coal
tar. l see a published statement this
week that coal tar will cause the boards
on the fence to rot; it gives them the
dry rot. 1t is quite likely that the
board fence referred to had the dry rot;
but l don't believe it was caused by the
coal tar. Our railroads are using it of
late very generally on bridge timber.
etc.-SEei Foster, tn N. =. Tribune.