East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1906-03-26
GOVERNMENT SELLS
PINE TIMBER
RAILROADS BUY 5O,OOO,OOO
FEET FOR TIES.
Government VIII Receive Stumpage
Price of $3.50 Per 1000 for Red Fir
and SO for Pine-Railroads VIII
Apply Preservatives in Hopes of
Extending the Life of the Tie.

From several aspects a striking in
terest attaches to the recent sale by
the government of about $4,000, 900
feet of timber on the Montana di-
vision of the Yellowstone forest re-
serve to contracting company which
will convert most of the timber into
railroad ties.
This is one of the largest sales ever
made of government timber; the
price is advantageous; and a large
percentage of the cut will be of spe-
cies which few years ago was with
out market value. namely, lodgepole
pine. Further, it may be said with
assurance that had not the preserva-
tive treatment of ties been shown TO
be both practical and economical,
! such sale could not now have been
made, for so per cent of the cut, or
approximately 100000 ties, is to be
treated with preservatives by a pro-
cess which experiment and trial have
placed on a sound business basis.
The purchasers Of the timber have
contracted to supply the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy and the North
ern Pacific railway companies with
ties for period covering three years.
The timber for which they applied to
the government consists of lodgepole
pine, red fir and spruce. A large
/ proportion of the stand is lodgepole
pine, which grows very densely. Con-
sequently after all the specified tim
Der has been removed, plentiful
stand of young trees will again form
a forest of merchantable dimensions.
The government will receive a
stumpage price of $3.50 per 1000 feet
for the red fir and 50 per 1000 feet
for the spruce and pine.
The story of the entrance of lodge
pole pine into the timber market is
an interesting chapter in the history
of the use of forest products. Five
years ago this tree was classed among
the nearly worthless inferior timbers
growing in the northwestern states.
1t had never come, into extensive use.
Its liability to attack by fungus
and to check in drying, it's softness
and lightness. and the large percent
age of sapwood in its structure were
disadvantages which seemed to ham
uiSdp II let the DOSSl-
bility and the need of finding sub
stitutes for scarcer woods had already
led to the closer study of a number
of uneXploited species, and devices
were being sought by which artifi-
cial treatment might be made to take
the place of natural adaptability to
a specific service.
Among these devices were improve
ments in seasoning methods and the
use of preservatives. 1t was found
that preservative treatment, which
greatly prolonged the life of certain
timbers, depends largely for its sue
cess upon the penetrability of the
wood, which permits the preservative
to enter the wood substance easily.
The loblolly pine was seen to be
exceedingly we'll adapted for pre-
servative treatment, and also lodge
pole pine, whose softness is COM
bined with a high degree of permea-
bility. In 1902 the seasoning and pre-
serving of lodgepole pine was thor
oughly taken up by the forest service
in cooperation with the Chicago
Burlington & Quincy railroad and
with the present purchasers of re-
serve timber in Montana, The re-