, 1907-02-22
L0DGEPOLE PINE
TO Be UTILIZED
FORESTRY SERVICE DISCOVERS
CHEAP AND EASY METHOD
OF TREATING POSTS.
Vast Areas Of Burned and Dead Pine
That Can Be Made Sources Of
Profit and Make Room for Young
Foresteserviee viii Establish
Experimental Plants.

washington, u. G., Q - ex-
pertinent in the preservative treat
ment of dead lodgepole pine for fence
posts, just completed by the forest
service, on the Henrys Lake forest re-
serve in Idaho, has given results OF
economic value both to the people OF
the community and to the forest ser
vice. 1t has demonstrated that fire.
Killed %lodgepole pine is well adapted to
treatment with ~creosote oil by an e.
ceedingly simple process.
Cedar Supply Exhausted.
The demand for durable posts by
ranchmen in the vicinity of Henrys
lake has hitherto been met by the use
of red cedar, but the supply of this
species is now completely exhausted.
The only native trees at present avail
able for posts are lodgepole pine,
quaking aspen, and Douglas fir. Though
durability varies with the %soundness
and dryness of the posts when placed
in the ground and with the character
OF the soil with which they come into
contact, in general, aspen posts last
from six to ten years, fir posts from
five to seven years, and pine posts only
from three to four years.
Much Dead Timber. 4
Lodgepole pine without preservative
] treatment is thus too short-lived to
make desirable posts or poles. The
idea of treating it was suggested by
the requirements Of forest manage
ment on the Henrys Lake reserve.
Large bodies Of dead %lodgepole pine,
both standing and down-the legacy
handicap to the forest there. This tim
Der must be got rid of to make room
for young growth il the future forest
is to be well stocked.
Should Last Twenty Years.
Properly treated lodgepole pine
should last twenty years, which equals
the life of the former favorite, red
cedar. BY treating the pine, and thus
making it serviceable for posts, the
forest service has found a way of re-
moving the encumbering timber at a
good price n supplying consumers
with valuable posts at a reasonable
figure. Since the success Of preserva-
tive treatment has been demonstrated
the value of the wood has risen from
rs cents to approximately 40 cents per
cord.
Open Tank Treatment.
The treatment was given in a gal
vanized iron tank fitted with steam
coils, in which from 40 to so posts
stripped Of bark were placed upright.
Enough creosote was then run into the
tank to submerge the butts for about
2A feet, heated to 200 degrees F., or
little above the boiling point of wa.
ter at that altitude, and afterwards al.
lowed to cool.
An Important Bearing.
The large quantity of fire-killed tim
Der on many of the forest reserves, the
pressing need for durable wood, the
steady rise in its price due to the in
creasing difficulty of obtaining it, and,
finally, the ease with which post tim
Der can be treated, indicate that the
p~reservative treatment of timber is to
have an important development
throughout tho west. This, besides
meeting the demands of the people and
reducing the drain upon the forest, will
lead to the Improvement Of conditions
on the reserves and insure better crops
hereafter.
Will Establish Treating Plants.
1t is the intention of the forest ser
vice to establish experimental treating
plants where there are bodies of dead
timber on the reserves Int a demand
for durable wood can not otherwise be
met. Experimental work will be con.
Quoted with zinc chloride and other
processes as the needs of the different
regions and the thorough testing of
each process may require.
Company Will Be Formed.
AS a result Of the post experiment,
it is understood that a company will
take up the treatment Of dead lodge
pole pine on a commercial scale in the
spring. They are satisfied that the
simplicity and economy of the open
tank process introduced by the forest
service will enable them, with certain
notifications of apparatus, to treat and
sell not only fence posts, but telephone
poles and posts used for irrigation
works. They count upon a local mar !
ket already in good part developed by
the confidence which the f%ence-post ex.
pertinent has inspired.