The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1906-02-22
How Seasoning Affects Telephone
and telegraph Poles.

EXPERIMENTS TOWARD ECONOMY IN THr
USE OF A PRODUCT WHICH MUST MAIN.
TAIN 1000 MILES OF LINES.
\ aith the life Of telephone and telegraph
oles At its present limit, the 800 600 miles
fexisting lines, requiring 81, 200, 900 poles,
must be Iehewed approximately four timer
efere trees suitable to take their plsc,
can grow. A pole lasts 10 service sbou,
welve years, on the average, but 10 made
tom tree about so years old. In Other
sords, to maintain . continuous suppl,
dvc tim,s % many trees must be growing
III the forest ~ there are poles In use. The
everity Of this drain upon forest resources
~ the telephone and telegraph companies
obvious enough. Just as in the case oi
ailroad ties, the question Of pole supply
,as thrust itself Into prominence. T,
Iengthen the life Of poles, and In this way
moderate demand and conserve future
supplies, has become ~ important matter.
affecting the public ~ we'll % private In
erestp.
Stree 1909 the Forest Service has been
making thorough study Of the preserva.
i've treatment Of poles and Of the value Of
be seasoning 10 relation to treatment. IL
mis- work i's first object has been, a. In its
tudies Of cross-ties and construction tim
,.rs, to make the timber last 10 lrrg -
20 M to chic the annual demand
or renewal and thus lessen 30 far - pos
lble the drAia upon the forest. Cc-opeIat-
ns with telephone AID telegraph compap-
., railroads, lumber com paniss, and indi.
' dusls,i bss urged forward . series Of
experiments covering oil phases Of the pro-
,lem. from the question Of the best sesson
'or cutting, through subsequent stages Of
,Apdlins, to he fiasl .settiDg Of the pole,
some Of the most important results obtain.
4 deal with the seasoning process.
Seasoning was studied 10 the frat place
o determine the rate at which poles be-
zone air dry, that 10, lose - much mcis.
ure ~ they will part With through ev.p.
ration In the open air. The time 81 cut
ing was ais, carefully considered. Ex.
,eriment proved that poles cut 10 winter
Try more regularly than those cut 1t other |
!. asons, aid also show . greater loss 10 |
noistH,e at the ind Of six months season.
ng. Toe advantages Of winter cutting are,
.ei,fore, even drying, with . minimum
.bility to check, and light weight--an oh.
ious advantage for shipment by freight
pring or sumner cutting secures . more
,pid foss Of moisture 1t fret, owning to
he temperature, but only for three or foui
aoHlhs. At the end Of from six TO eight
months spring and summer cut poles are
aund 10 have dried only thres.quarters %
ouch - wintsr-cut poles. Spring and sum
DER cutting, however, would result In sav-
" In freight and Increased durability u
ne poles are to be shipped and used with
! three or four months sfter cutting.
The second poiot to be determined was
be degree. OF shrinkage 10 circumference
uring air seasoning. This was found 70 |
,e very slight, averaging bat little over 0 0
.er cent. At the butt and 0s per ceot. q
be tcp. The rapid shrinhags Of wood does
o, b gin until the percentage Of moisture
reduced lower than ID possible 10 The
sse Of telsphops and telegraph piles 10
tessoutox.
The Eject of soAtlnf 10 water spon tbs
ate Of seasoning Vas The third of the prob
Ems dealt with. Tne experiments sub.
tantiate the common opinion thst po'es
oated from Two 10 four weeks subse.
ueptly season at . materially Increased
lte.
Finally, II vas found tha. checking 10
be course Of seasoning 10 not serious when
oles have been carefully cut. Rapid
rown timber. however, shsn 20 careless
} cut ~ TO leave iasstd ends, was found
D split badly st the bait and The top. This
noabtiess merely the widening Of cracks
tsrtsd whsn the stIck partially broke on
,stsad OF being cut clear through.
Jus, how mach thorough seasoning will
ID TO the life Of poles cas- not Be told un-
1 The actual tests are made 10 service. The
sles upon which the tssts are being made