The daily sentinel., 1908-03-10
DECAY IN WOOD MAY Be PREVENTED
Government Announces Plan Which
May Mean a Great Saving
In Timber.

II AS estimated tnat renee =
= post. which under circum- =
stances will last for perhaps =
= two years, will. If given pre- =
= servative treatment costing =
= about 10 cents, last eighteen +
= years. The service of other +
= timbers, such as railroad ties, +
= telephone poles. and mine +
= props, can be doubled and often +
= trebled by inexpensive treat +
= ment. Today. when the cost +
= of wood is a big item to every =
= farmer, every srockman, every +
= railroad manager-to everyone, z
= in fact, who must use timber =
= where it is likely to decay =
= this is a fact which should be +
= carefully considered. =
+ %++ 90 r r
1t is easy to see that if the length
of time timbers can be used is
doubled, only half as much timber
will be required 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 a 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 treat
ment,, fence post such as was men,
toned at the beginning might serve
as one example. The post is of lob
lolly pine, and costs, untreated,
about 8 cents, or, including the cost
of setting, IA cents. 1t lasts about 2
years. Compromising interest at 5
per cent. the annual charge OF such
post Is 7.53 cents; that is, it costs
nku
in service. Preseryative treatment
cetsting 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 COM
pounded at 8 per cent, gives an
annual charge of 2.04 cents. Thus
the saving due to treatment is 5.49
cents year for every mile of fence
Of sum equivalent to the interest
on $219.60.
In the same way preservative
treatment will increase the length of
life of loblolly pine railroad tie
from five years to twelve years and
will reduce the annual charge from
1852 cents to 9.4S cents, which
amounts to a saving of $5S.75 per
mile.
1t is estimated that 1900 acres
are required each year to grow tim
ber for the anthracite coal mines
alone. The average life of an un-
treated mine prop is not more than
three years. BY proper preservative
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
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 dol
lars are lost every year by the CO.
called "bluing" of freshly sawed sap
wood lumber. This can be prevented
by proper treatment. and at cost SO
small 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
preparation be made to take the
place of the high-grade longleaf for
many purposes. Black and tupelo
gums and other ltttle-used woods
nave a now AASiC CabAhS
because of the possibility of preserv-
ing them from decay at small cost.
In the Northeastern and Lake states
are tamarack, hemlock, birch, beech,
and maDle. and the red and black
oak. all Of which by proper treat
ment may help to replace the fast
diminishing 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 139 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 preserva-
tives and processes. gives examples
Of the saving In dollars and cents,
and tells what wood preservation can
do in the future. The circular can
be had free upon application to the
Forester. Forest Service. Washing
ton, D. c. 's'9