The copper era. (Clifton, Graham County, Ariz.) 1899-1911, 1908-01-16
A HUNDRED MILLION
TIES EACH YEAR.
) Railroads Paid $5O,OOO.OO in 1906. and
Used Timber Equivalent to Product
of 100000 Acres of Forest.

In the construction of new track
and for renewals, the steam and
street railroads used, in 1906, over
one hundred million crossties. The
average price paid was As cents per
tie. Approximately three-fourths OF
the ties were hewd and one-fourth
sawed.
Oak, the chief wood used for ties,
furnishes more than A per cent,
nearly one-half of the whole number,
while the southern pines, which rank
second, contribute about one-sixth.
Douglas fir and cedar, the next two,
with approximately equal quantities,
supply less than one-6fteenth apiece.
Chestnut, cypress, western pine,
tamarack, hemlock and redwood are
all of Importance, but no one of them
furnishes more than a small proper
ton.
Oak and southern pine stand high
est in both total and average value;
the average value of each is 81 cents.
Chestnut ranks next, followed by
cedar. Hemlock, at % cents, is the
cheapest tie reported.
More than three-fou-ths of all ties
are hewed; and with every wood from
which ties are made, except Douglas
fir and western pine, the number of
hewed ties is greater than the num-
Der sawed About ten times as many
Douglas fir trees are sawed as are
hewed. OF the oak ties little over
one-sixth and of the southern pine
ties less than one-third are sawed.
In general, when lumber has rela-
lively low value the proportion of
sawed ties increases because the mar
ket for ties is always active, while
that tor lumber is frequently slug
gish. All western species are affect
ed by this condition, for stumpage is
abundant and its value relatively low.
Ten per cent. of the ties purchased
were treated With preservatives
either before they we're purchased or
at the treating plant of the railroad
company. At least ten railroad
companies are operating their own
plants for the preservation of their
construction material.
OF the many forms in which wood
is used. ties are fourth in cost. sawed
lumber being first, firewood second,
and shingles and laths third. 1t has
been calculated that the amount of
. wood Used each year in ties is equiva-
lent to the product of 100000 acres of
forest and that to maintain every tie
in the track two trees must be grow
ing.
With nearly 100000 miles of rail-
road trackage and approximately
$500 ties to the mile, there are over
800, 200, 600 ties constantly subject to
wear and decay. The railroads re-
port that in the form of cedar lasts
eleven years, cypress ten years and
redwood nine years. These woods,
however, lack the desired weight and
hardness, and, what is more import
ant, they are not available in the re-
gion of the trunk lines of the central
and eastern states. When it is con-
sidered, then, that the service of the
longest lived tie timbers in general
use, chestnut, white oak, tamarack,
spruce and Douglas frs but seven
years, while with some, as the black
oaks, it is but four years, whereas 4
treated tie with equipment to lesson
wear will last fifteen years, it is APP
parent how much the railroads can
save if preservative treatment is
universally adopted. The saving in
the drain upon the forests is of even
greater moment.
Details of the consumption of ties
in 1905 are continued in circular 124,
just issued by the forest service in
cooperation with the bureau of the
census. This pamphlet can be
secured by application to the forest
er, at Washington, D. G.