The Oskaloosa herald., 1908-03-12
that give each a night concert every
week throughout the summer.
DECAY IN WOOD pREvENrEp.


DECAY IN WOOD PREVENTED.
1t is estimated that a fence post,
which Lni 80 ordiua circne. stances
will last los perhaps two years. will
liz given preservative treatment cost
ing about 10 cents, last eighteen years.
The service OF other timbers, such as
railroad ies,telephone poles and mine
props, can be doubled and often Ire-
|bled by inexpensive preservatiHe
treatment. Today, when the cost of
wood is big item to every farmer,
levery stockman, every railroad man
aver to everyone, in fact, who must
use timber where it is likely to decay
this is a fact which should be care
fully considered.
1t is easy to see that IL the length of
time timbers can be used is doubled,
only half as much timber win be re-
|quired as before and only one-half as
much money will need to be spent in
the purchase of timber Moreover.
many woods which were for long
time considered 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,
a fence post such as was mentioned
at the beginning might serve as one
example. The post is of loblolly pine,
and costs, mLreated, about cents, or,
including the cost of setting, IA cents.
.It lasts about two years. Compound.
ing interest at 5 per cent, thei ;Innual
charge of such a post is 1853 cents;
that is, it costs 1853 cents a year to
keep the post in service. Pieserva.
tive treatment costing 10 cents will
increase its length of life to about
eighteen years. In this case the total
cost of the post, set, is "a cents, which
compounded at 5 per cent,gives an an
nual charge of 204 cents. Thus the
saving due to treatment is $40 cents
a year. Assuming that there are 200
posts per mile. there is saving each
year for every mile of fence of a sum
equivalent to the interest on $219.60
In the same way preservative treat
ment will increase the length of life
of loblolly pine railroad tie from five
years to twelve years and will reduce
the annual charge from 11.52 cents to
. As cents, which amounts to saving
of $5S.75 per mile.
1t is estimated that 10000 acres
are required each year to grow TIM
Der for the anthracite coal mines
alone. The average life of an untreat.
ed mine prop is not more than three
years. BY proper preservative treat
ment it can be prolonged by many
times this figure. Telephone and tel
egraph poles, which in ten or twelve
years, or even less, decay so badly at
the ground line that they have to be
removed, can, by 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 decay-resistant
woods. Thousands of dollars are lost
every year by the so-called "bluing"
of freshly sawed sapwood lumber.
This can be prevented by proper treat,
ment, and at cost so small as to put
it within the reach of the smallest
operator
In the South the cheap and abund.
ant loblolly pine, one of the easiest of
all woods to treat, can by proper pre-
paration be made to take the place of
the high-grade longleaf pine for many
purposes. 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 tama-
rack, hemlock, beech, birch and ma
pie, 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 cotton.
wood. willow and blackberry. -
Circular 1919 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 preservatiyes and pro-
cesses, gives examples of the saving
in dollars and cents, and tells what
wood preservation can do in the flu.
ture. The circular can be had free
upon application to the Forester, For
oct Service Wnshinotnn ID n