Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1907-11-01
PRESERVATION or FENCE POSTS
AND OTHER FARM TIMBER.

Experimental tests made by the gov
rnment with a number of inferior
foods have shown that it is pTac-
ticable to subject them to preservative
treatment by which they viii be rem
Tered durable and as lasting as the
soundest oak i'm many cases.
This is of the highest Importance In
connection with the use of fence posts,
telegraph and telephone poles. cross
ties and constructive timbers OF many
Kinds. 1t is of special Importance to
farmers i'm nan parts of the country,
for With them the fence post problem
is serious.
Almost every farmer i'm the south and
east knows that the supply OF locust.
white oak, cedar and other durable
woods has become so restricted in the
last few years that their cost has be-
come almost pTohibitiVe. In the middle
west the supply of good post material
always was limited. while in many
places in the far west il is becoming
more and more expensive to build
fences because good timber for posts
is becoming very scarce. The fence post
problem, therefore, appeals TO the farm
erS OF the whole country, and they viii
be benefited by any process by which
a poor post may be made TO give double
or treble service.
The preservative treatment can be
fAllE4's'N INV NNAA'FoAAAl9 WIN =
tain kinds OF woods than with others,
but ii fortunately SO happens that the
open-grained. quick-groWing, quick
decaying timbers are the easiest of all
woods to treat. Among these are old
field or loblolly pine % the south, lodge
pole ana western yellow pine, cotton
wood, willow, buckeye, beech, syca-
more, and others in the west and mid
die west.
Woods which decay most rapidly i'm
their natural state, With few exceptions,
are best adapted for preservative treat
meut. This is important because it rem
dcrs cheap and abundant timbers avail
able and makes use of would 9TH
CrWise be wasted.
The process of treating farm timbers
is simple, n the cost is low. The APP
paratus may be set up and operated
by a farmer ON his own premises, or
two or more farmers or timber users
may join and lessen the expense for
each. The only apparatus required is
an open iron tank, large enough to re-
ceive fence posts in an upright posi-
ton. Shingles, stakes. and other small
timbers may be treated in the same
tank.
The cost of the treatment, after the
apparatus is ready, depends upon the
size Of the timbeTS and whether the en-
tire posts or only the butts are treated,
and the t~horoughness of the treatment.
Where freight rates permit the ship
ping of the preservative at a moderate
expense, the total cost of a treated
post Of old field pine. lodgepole pine,
cottonwood, or similar timber, ought
not exceed that Of a high grade post IN
it's natural state, and is often less.
The government considers the investi-
cations in the preservative treatment
of timber Of such Importance that the
business of one branch of a bureau in
the department OF agriculture-the of
flee of wood preservation" in the forest
service, Is given over entirely to
the work of experiments i'm cooper
alton with railroad companies. mining
corporations and individuals in pro-
longing the life of railroad ties, mine
props bridge timber, fence posts and
transmission poles. Advice and praC-
teal assistance is furnished all who
request it of the Forester. The length
ening of life of timber means the saw
ing of thousands of dollars annually
through doing away with the heavy
expense of labor and cost of material
for renewals.