The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1908-07-03

Timber thoroughly treated with
proper personalities will last almost
indefinitely" says government ex-
pert who is an authority on wood
preservation. Engineers have known
for years that this is true" he con-
tinues, but up to the present time, at
least in America, complicated and eX-
pensive plants have been necessary
for the work and wood preservation
has often been too expensive an opera
ton to allow treated timber to come
into general use"
Methods in wood preservation have
undergone marked change in the
last few years, however, and the work
which few years ago was limited to
a few experiments carried on in scat
tered parts of the United States has
grown with such rapidity that wood
preservation has become a business
which figures most prominently in the
industrial life of this country.
Each year railroads are treating an
increasing portion of their cross ties,
miners their mine props, farmers their
fence posts and the men of many
other industries are bringing preserva-
tives into play to close the pores and
prepare the timber they use to resist
the fungi which cause decay. The
work points the way to one of the
chief means of the conservation of the
nations forest resources, for as the
length of the life of timber is in
creased the drain upon the forests is
lessened, and more wood made avail
able for use.
In nearly all localities in the Rocky
mountain and Pacific states is found
an abundant supply of certain kinds
of timber which have only a slight
commercial Importance. Engelmann
spruce, lodgepole and other kinds of
pine, aspen, and cottonwood are only
a partial list of the kinds of wood
which are strong enough and abundant
enough to win high value for construc-
ton purposes, were it not for one
single defect which has prevented
their general adoption. When exposed
to the soil and weather they decay so
rapidly that they have to be renewed
too often to justify their use.
Dead timber of lodgepole pine and
other species also is found in large
tracts, but is sharply Disseminated
against by all constructing engineers
and contractors. AS a matter of fact,
the dead timber, provided it is sound,
is just as good as green timber of the
same species; and indeed, in some
ways, is even more valuable. For it
is we'll known that thoroughly sea-
soned timber is both stronger and
more durable than the same timber
when green. Timber which was killed
by fire or insects, and which is still
in a sound condition, differs from
green timber chiefly in being thor
oughly seasoned-that is to say, it is |
stronger, more durable and lighter. |
And so not only are the freight rates |
considerably reduced, but a better
grade of timber is secured.
Even in a thoroughly seasoned con-
dftion, lodgepole pine, Engelmann
spruce, and the other species men,
toned above, are by no means dura-
BILE woods when compared with Doug
las fir, Oregon cedar, and the other
kinds of wood which are used so ex-
tensiveiy in construction work. And |
before they can successfully compete
with such timbers, in spite of their
lower price, they must be made to
last longer under unfavorable condi-
tons.
After several years study, the
United States forest service has
proved that in many cases the COM
plicated and expensive plants are not
necessary for the proper treatment of
many kinds of timber; and that many
of the timbers which decay most rap
idly In the natural state. are among
the easiest and cheapest to treat.
Many Of the species mentioned above
offer little resistance to the entrance
of the preservative. The principle of
the method is to immerse the thor
oughly seasoned wood in a hot bath of