The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1908-03-12
DECAY IN WOOD PREVENTED.
Considerable nOney Can Be Saved
and Less Material Needed.

1t IS estimated that fence post,
which under ordinary circumstances will
iast for perhaps two years, will, if given
preservative treatment costing about
10 cents, last eighteen years. The
eryice of other timbers, such as rail-
Dad ties, telephone poles, and mine
rops, can be doubled and often trebled
~ inexpensive treatment. Today.
when the cost of wood is a big item to
every farmer, every stockman, every
railroad manager-to everyone, in fact,
Whe must use timber where it is likely
to decay-this is a fact which should be
carefully considered.
1t is easy to see that if the length of
time timbers can be used is doubled,
only half as much timber will be requir-
ed as before and only one-half as much
money will need to be spent in the pur-
chase Of timber Moreover. many
woods which were for long time con-
sidered almost worthless can be treated
and made to last as long as the scarcer
and more expensive kinds.
Of the actual saving in dollars and
cents through preservative treatment.
fence post such as was mentioned at
beginning might serve as one ex-
nple The postis of lablolly pine, and
costs, untreated, about cents. or. in
GLIDING the cost of setting. IA cents.
1t lasts about two years. Compound
ing interest at ) per cent, the annual
charge Of such post is :. So cents: that
IS, it costs 1888 cents year to keepythe
post in service. Preservative treat
ment costing 10 cents will increase its
length Of life to about eighteen years.
In this case tie total cost Of THE post.
set, is "a cents, which compounded at ;
per cent. gives an annual charge of ,. OF
cents. Thus the saving due to treat
ment is $40 cents a year. Assuming
that there are 200 posts per mile, there
IS a saving each year for every mile of
fence of sum equivalent to- the in
terest on S219.6O
In the same way preservatiye treat
ment will increase the length of life Of
a lablolly pine railroad tie from five
years to twelve years and willi reduce
the annual charge from l1.52 cents to
9.48 cents, which amounts. to'a'saving
"f 3.75 per mile.
is estimated that $50, 600 acres are
lequired each year to grow timber fer
the anthracite coal mines alone. Tie
average life Of an untreated mine prop
is not more than three years BY
proper preventative treatment it can be
prolonged by many times this figure.
Telephone and telegraph poles. which
in ten or twelve years, or even less.
decay so yadly at the ground line that
they have to be removed. can. bv a
simple treatment of their butts. be
made to last twenty or Twenty-Five
years. Sap shingles, which are almost
valueless in their natural, state, can
easily be treated and made to outlast
even painted shingles of the most de
cay-resistant woods. Thousands Of
dollars are lost every year by the So
called "bluing" Of freshly sawed sap
wood lumber. This can be prevented
by proper treatment, and at cost so
small as to put it within the reach Of
the smallest operatOr.
In the South the cheap andlabundant
loblolly pine, one Of the easiest Of all
woods to treat, can by proper prepara-
ton be made to take the place of the
high-grade longleaf pine for many pur-
poses. Black and tupelo gums and
other little-used woods have a new and
increasing Importance because"of the
possibility Of preserving them from
decay at small cost. In the North
eastern and Lake States are tamarack,
hemlock, beech, birch, and maple. and
the red and black oaks, all Of which by
proper treatment may help to replace
the discriminating white oak and
cedar In the States of the Mississippi
Valley the pressing fence-post problem
may be greatly relieved by treating
such species as cottonwood, willow,
and blackberry.
Circular l39 of the Forest Service.
"A Primer of Wood Preservation, -
tells in simple terms what decay is and
how it can be retarded, describes briefly
certain personalities and processes,
gives examples Of the saving.in dollars
and cents, and tells what wood preser-
walton can do in the future. The circu-
lar can be had free upon application to
the Forester. Forest Service Washing
ton, d. C.