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Show All farm Timber Should Be s Ircated Wiih Preservative JVhere the farmer has not the means of treating ?IMtXTT . , . . 7 . y 5 GEO.M.HUNT z materia t efficiently, he can arrange with lnCheFm;f6t other farmers to do the work co-operatively roduet might prevent decay by keeping out the water; but this would be difficult to accomplish as well as being too expensive. Posts have sometimes been dipped In thin cement and allowed to dry, leaving a coat of cement over the surface sur-face of the wood. Such a coating will not keep out water and Is easily cracked or broken off. Good results cannot be expected from this treatment. treat-ment. Only sound wood is fit for treatment. treat-ment. If decay has made a start, It Is not always entirely stopped by tie treatment, but may continue beneath the treated wood until the Interior of the post is destroyed. The first thing to consider, then, Is the selection and preparation of the timber. All timber should be peeled and thoroughly seasoned before the preservative pre-servative is applied. In peeling posts of pine, cedar, and other coniferous Experimental Outfit Heated by Steam. woods, care should be taken to remove re-move the thin inner bark from the part of the post that Is to be treated. Even small patches of this bark often prevent penetration by the preservative. preserva-tive. In order to obtain the best absorption absorp-tion and penetration of preservative the posts must be seasoned. The water and sap must come out of the wood to make room for the preservative preserva-tive to go In. Furthermore, wood treated green is likely to check open after treatment, exposing untreated wood. Seasoned wood which has been wet by recent rains is not in good condition to treat. The best place for rapid seasoning is an exposed location on high ground. On damp or low ground or near a stream seasoning will take place much more slowly, and the wood will never get quite so dry. If properly piled In a good location, posts will usually season sea-son sufficiently for treatment In from 60 to 90 days of good seasoning weather. In exceptional cases they have been known to season in a month. It is sometimes difficult to determine from its appearance whether timber Is sufficiently seasoned or not. By weighing weigh-ing a few representative posts at regular regu-lar Intervals It is possible to determine the degree of seasoning very closely. When an ordinary sized post properly piled for seasoning does not lose more than a pound or two In weight during a week of good seasoning weather it may be considered dry enough to treat. Some woods, such as oak and chestnut, chest-nut, check very badly when dried too rapidly. It is well, If possible, to cut and peel such timber in the fall or winter, so that by the time warm weather comes It will be partially sea- CO ffitj Creosote Heater for Brush Treating. soned. Woods like pines, firs, etc., are usually not affected so seriously as the oaks by rapid seasoning. The posts should be open piled, so that the air will circulate freely around each one. The bottom of the pile should be raised 6 Inches or a foot from the ground. If the ground Is dry, the posts can be seasoned where they are cut by laying them upon rocks or brush, or keeping them off the ground in any other way. Posts should never be piled in close piles or allowed to lie on the ground ; for under such conditions they will frequently start to decay before they are seasoned. 4 THE amount of wood used on the farms of the country and exposed to decay is very great. The total is difficult to estimate, but it undoubtedly un-doubtedly amounts to several billion feet. This wood is used in various forms, such as fence posts, building foundations, windmill frames, shingles, telephone poles, silos, etc. For such uses durability is usually the chief requisite. re-quisite. . ..- - Some woods resist decay more than others. A post of one kind of wood may last ten years or more, while one of -another kind may last only two years under the same conditions. There is also a great difference in the durability of wood of the same species under different conditions. In a very wet or a very dry situation a post will last longer than in a situation where the ground Is simply damp. It will last better in a compact clayey soil than In a loose sandy soil. A warm, moist climate Is more favorable to decay de-cay than a dry one, or one that has long, cold winters. Naturally durable woods are continually con-tinually growing scarcer and higher priced In most localities, and less durable dur-able woods must be used tn their stead. Many of these woods in their natural condition will last only two or three years in situations favorable to decay. It will readily be seen, therefore, there-fore, that any reasonably cheap method meth-od of Increasing their life will effect a material saving fo tie user. - For a nunjber of years the forest service has been conducting experiments experi-ments on the preservative treatment of fence posts, poles, and other forms of timber exposed to decay. These experiments have been made in cooperation co-operation with agricultural experiment stations, farmers, and various companies, com-panies, and also upon the national forests. for-ests. They have proved conclusively that when a suitable preservative treatment Is given the resistance of wood to decay can be very much increased. in-creased. Decay is not due to the chemical action ac-tion of the soil or to the fermentation of the sap, but is the result of the action of certain low forms of plant life called fungi. These consist, for the most part, of very fine threadlike filaments, collectively "called mycelium, which penetrate the wood In all directions. di-rections. Certalp substances in the wood constitute the food of the fungi. &.S these substances are dissolved the Itructure is broken down, until the tvood reaches the condition commonly known as rotten. The mycelium usually grows out to the surface to form compact masses called fruiting bodies. Since there are many kinds of fungi, there are many kinds of fruiting bodies. The various forms of "toadstools," "punks," "brackets." "brack-ets." or "dog ears,'' which are so frequently fre-quently found growing on trees and dead wood, are examples of these. - A Good Way to Season Posts. A Poor Way to Pile Posts for Seasoning Season-ing Too Close. Their presence generally means that decay has made considerable progress In the wood. The four requirements for the growth of fungi are moisture, air, a favorable temperature, and food. A damp condition of the wood is probably the most favorable to decay. Wood can be either so wet or so dry that the fungi cannot live in it. When submerged in water it has been known to last hundreds of years, and in perfectly per-fectly dry situations it will often last indefinitely. Wood In contact with damp ground usually contains the right amount of moisture for the development de-velopment of decay. Also, where timber tim-ber Is in contact with wood or other' material, water frequently collects In the points and keeps the wood moist for long periods of time, thus favoring decay at these points. Familiar examples exam-ples of this are decay In the tops of posts In board fences, in the joints of various kinds of buildings, in porch trolunins, in sills resting on wood or istone piers, and in lumber piles. There are very few places where the fungus cannot get air enough for its ed.?. When wood is buried deep in the ground, especially in compact or clayey soil. It tends to become saturated satu-rated with moisture, so that decay is prevented; but within two or three feet of the surface of the ground there Is usually enough air for the growth of the fungus. Conditions are most favorable, of course, Just at the surface sur-face of the ground ; and it will be noted not-ed that the point of greatest decay in a fence post is usually near the ground DO on in it i LJ LJ Treating Plant Made From Two Oil Drums, Showing Method of Constructing Con-structing False Bottom. line. Above the ground line moisture conditions are usually unfavorable, and below the ground line the air supply sup-ply is less favorable for the development develop-ment of decay. In loose or sandy soils, however, which under good drainage contain more air than compact soils, decay may extend to the bottom of the post. Wood-destroying fungi cannot grow at yery high or very low temperatures ; but there are few, if any, climates In which the temperature during at least part of the year is not favorable to their growth. The wood itself supplies the fourth requirement of the fungi, which is food, In order to prevent decay. It is necessary to deprive the fungus of one or more of these four requirements. It is out of the question in ordinary situations to deprive it of air and warmth ; and though moisture can sometimes be eliminated to a certain extent, this cannot be done when the wood is exposed to the weather. In general, therefore, the most effective method of preventing decay is to poison pois-on the food supply, and upon this principle is based the use of most successful- wood preservatives. Prolonging the Life of Posts Without the Use of Preservatives. Posts which are to be set Without' preservative treatment should always be peeled. The presence of loose bark allows moisture to collect, and thus makes conditions favorable for decay. It also harbors wood-boring Insects, which, by boring tunnels, may both seriously weaken the post and make conditions more fnvorable for rapid decay by affording easy access to fungi. The general impression has been that seasoning wood makes it more durable. In a number of experiments made by the forest service on poles and ties, however, green wood has been found as durable as seasoned wood. It is questionable, therefore, If It pays to season posts simply to Increase In-crease their durability. If the posts are to be used in moist locations, the seasoned wood can quickly take up moisture and In a comparatively short time reach the condition of green wood. In any case, the seasoned posts will in time rench approximately the same condition as unseasoned posts under the same conditions. In order to be of any value seasoning season-ing must be properly done, and the posts must not be held so long that decay begins before they are set. Posts should never be left close-piled for any length of time. In some cases charring has appeared ap-peared to give good results; in others however, it has failed to give any appreciable protection, and it cannot be relied upon. riling stones around the base of the post has sometimes been resorted to. This tends to keep back the weeds and allow the air to circulate freely around the post. In some climates, however, where the ground is wet during dur-ing a considerable pT'-m of the year, the use of stones in this way has seemed to favor decay rather than retard re-tard It, because the post Is allowed to dry out partially between wet spells. It would be better to keep It constantly con-stantly wet. In dry, sandy regions posts are sometimes very badly cut by drifting sand being blown against the wood. This effect is sometimes called "burning." "burn-ing." Piling stones around such posts would, no doubt, be effective In preventing pre-venting the sand-cutting. It is doubtful, doubt-ful, however, if results obtained by the use of stones for the sole purpose of preventing decay will justify the labor Involved. . . , Setting posts in concrete may have a beneficial effect In some cases. If moisture should reach the post, however, how-ever, it may be held there by the concrete and cause decay to proceed more rapidly. This is an expensive method of setting posts and cannot be depended upon to prevent decay. Prolonging the Life of Posts by Means of Preservative's. There are five chief requirements for a preservative for general use. It should be reasonably cheap, should penetrate wood readily, should not be corrosive to metal, should not evaporate evapo-rate or wash out of the wood easily, and should be poisonous to fungi. For special purposes there are, of course, additional requirements. Coal-tar creosote, which is a brownish-black heavy oil, practically Insoluble Insol-uble In water, is In general use for preserving fence posts and other farm timbers. Satisfactory penetrations of many species of wood can be secured with it and excellent results have ben obtained by its use. It is considered con-sidered one of the most efficient preservatives pre-servatives against decay so far developed de-veloped for farm timbers exposed to the weather. It may also be used for Inside work wherever its color, odor,-and odor,-and other properties are not objectionable. objec-tionable. Coal-tar creosotes vary considerably in quality ; but satisfactory results may be obtained from any good grade, provided pro-vided a sufficient amount is put Into the wood and a good penetration is Method of Piling Posts to Season. secured. Creosotes containing a high percentage of oils which boil at a low temperature are not suitable for use on the farm as those which contain con-tain a lower percentage of these oils, because a considerable portion may evaporate and be lost during treatment treat-ment . In some cases as much as one-fifth one-fifth of the oil used has been lost in this way. This loss of oil by evaporation evapora-tion may be largely offset, however, by the lower price at which the low-boiling creosotes may usually be obtained. Tar Is not a good preservative for farm use ; and, in general, good results have not been obtained with it when applied by methods that are practicable practic-able on the farm. Its chief defect Is that it does not penetrate the wood readily. - Coal-tar and water-gas tar are also much less poisonous to the organisms which cause decay than Is coal-tar crepsote. Crude oil Is not sufficiently poisonous poison-ous for a wood preservative. If the wood can be thoroughly saturated with It, water may be kept out and decay prevented ; but It Is very difficult, diffi-cult, if not impossible, to get enough oil Into most woods by processes which are practicable on the farm. For treating by the brush method crude oil is entirely unsatisfactory. . Good results cannot, in general, be expected from paint, linseed oil, or whitewash when used on fence posts Seasoning Against a Stump. or other timbers in contact with the ground. They do not penetrate the wood deeply, and the only way they can prevent decay is by preventing the entrance of fungi or moisture into the wood. Furthermore, the wood Is seldom sel-dom painted on all sides; so It Is usually possible for fungus to enter through an unpainted part. Whenever When-ever the painted film cracks or peels off, decay can also enter. It is quite ! common to see wood decaying beneath be-neath a coat of paint. If -the wood j were saturated with Unseed oU ir |