The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1907-10-31
PRESERVATION or FENCE POSTS
AMI nTHER FARM TIMER

TcrT~NfU
Experimental tests made by the gov
rnment with a urnbe of inferior
foods have shown that it is prac-
ticable to subject them to preseryative
treatment by which they will be rem
aered durable and as lasting as the
oundest oak in many cases.
This is Of highest Importance in
connection eth the use of fence posts,
I telegraph and telephone poles, cross
ties and constructive timbers of many
kinds. It is OF special Importance to
farmers in many parts of the country,
for with them the fence post problem
is serious.
Almost every farmer in 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 hat their cost has be-
come almost prohibitive. In the middle
west the supply of good post material
always was limited, While in many
places in the far west it is becoming
more and more expensive to build
fences because good tin1be for posts
is becoming very scarce. The fence post
problem, therefore, appeals to the farm
ers of the whole country, and they will
be benefited by any process by which
a poor post may be made to give double
or treble service.
The preservative treatment can be
employed more successfully with GER
tain kinds of woods than with others,
but it fortunately so happens that the
open-grained, q~uick-growing, quick
decaying timbers are the easiest of all
woods to treat. Among these are old
field or loblolly pine of the south. lodge
pole and western yellow pine, cotton
wood, willow. buckeye, beech. syca-
more, and others in the west n mid
die west.
Woods which decay most rapidly in
their natural state, With few exceptions,
n pa hast rLla~f~ f~., <yx,@ },,4nt
ment. This is important because it rem
ders cheap and abundant timbers avail
able and makes use of what would 9TH
erwise be wasted.
The process of treating farm timbers
is simple, and the cost is low. The APP
paratus may be set up and operated
by Il 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
tlmbers may be treated in the same
tank.
The cost of the treatment, after the
apparatus is ready, depends upon the
size of the timbers and whether the en-
tire posts or only the butts are treated
and the thoroughness of the treatment
Where freight rates permit the ship.
ping of the preservative at a moderate
expense. the total cost of a treated
pest of old field pine, lodgepole pine
cottonwood, or similar timber, ought
not exceed that of a high grade post ir
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 branc of a bureau il
the department OF agriculture-the "of.
flee of wood preservation in the forest
service, is given Over entirely tt
the work of experiments in cooper.
alton with railroad companies, mining
corporations and individuals in pro
longing the life of railroad ties, mine
props, bridge timber, fence posts ant
transmission poles. Advice and prac
teal assistance is furnished all wht
request it of the Forester. The length
ening of life of timber means the saw
ing Of thousands of dollars annual,
through doing away with the heav.
expense Of labor and cost of materia
for renewals.