, 1909-04-01
WOOD
DECAYS
Some Facts as to the Preserva-
ton Of Piles, Posts, Rail.
road Timbers, etc.

Piles driven by the hut jewellers
of the Baltic centuries ago are as
sound today as when first placed.
The wooden cofins in which they
buried their dead are still preserv-
ed in perfect condition after
thousands of years of service.
The longevity of timber under
these two extremes of climate and
moisture conditions has naturally
made people ask, What causes
wood decay? The answer is,
fungi and bacteria, low forms of
plant life which live in the wood
and draw their nourishment from
it. The little organisms are so
little that a microscope is requir-
ed to see them, yet their work re-
suits in the destruction of billions
of feet of timber each year, and
the railroad corporation with its
cross tie bill running up into sew
en- figures and the farmer who
spends a hundred or SO dollars a
year for fence posts are alike
drawing upon the knowledge of
experts in all parts of the world
in efforts to learn the most econ
omical and most satisfactory
method of preserving wood against
the inroads of decay. In study
ing the means of preventing de-
cay, wood-preserving experts have
learned many things about the OBJ
'noxious fungi which sap the life
of timber.
The small organisms can grow
either in light or in total darkness;
but ali of them require requisite
amounts of air, food, moisture,
and heat. If one or more of these
essential requirments is lacking
they cannot live, and the decay of
timber will not take place. Wood
constantly submerged in water
never rots, simply because there
is an insufficient supply of air.
This condition accounts for the
soundness of the old Baltic piles.
On the other hand, if wood can be
kept air-dry it will not decay be-
cause there will be then too little
moisture. The timber used by
the Egyptians will last indefinite
ly SO long as it is kept bone-dry.
There are a great many cases
however, where it is impossible to
keep wood submerged in water, or
in an absolutely air-dry condition.
In fact, a large percentage of the
timber which is used is exposed
to the weather, and is subjected
to decay simply because it con-
taines enough air and enough
water for the decomposing organ
isms to get a foothold. Decay is
most serious where the atmosphere
is warm and damp, because these
conditions are most favorable for
its development. In the coal
mines of Pennsylvania timber de-
Gays in two or three years because
the temperature is warn and con-
slant and the air is damp. And
in the south, the warm, humid at
mosphere often causes the timber
to rapidly decompose.
Decay may be prevented by
two general methods, by treating
the wood with antiseptics, thus
poisining the food supply of the
organisms which cause decay, and
by treating it with oils which rem
der it water proof. A combina-
ton of these two methods is most
commonly used, as when when
wood is treated with creosote
which fills up the pores and keeps
out water, and is also a powerful
~antiseptic.
The United States government
considers the Investigations OF
the preventative treatment of tim
Der of such Importance that the
business of one group of men in
the Forest Service is given ovei
entirely to the work of expert