Show f J c why wood od decays S K ogden march piles dr driven i ven 1 by the hut dwellers of the baltic centuries a ao ago o are as sound today ns as when first placed the wooden coffi cof flins ins in which th deyp bains buried their dead tire st sti I 1 H pro pre arved in perfect t condition I 1 after thousands of years of ser vice f f the longevity of timber under these two extremes of climate s and moisture condit ons has naturally u rally made people ask what causes wood decay the answer t is funi fun i and bacteria low forms of plant life which live in the te wood and draw their nourishment from it T e little organs asnis isms abeso areso are so little thata that a micro f i scope is required to see them P yet lhoir work wok results in the de des s 1 truc traction tion of billions of feet of tim s her ber each year and the railroad corporation orp oration with its cross tie bill running up into seven figures and th the e furmer farmer who spends a hundred or so dollars a year for fence posts are alike drawing up on the knowledge of experts in all parts of the world in efforts to learn the most economical and h most satisfactory method of pre serving wood against the inroads of decay in studying the means of preventing decay wood pre serving ing experts nave learned many things thinas abo about ut the obnoxious I 1 fungi which sap the life 5 1 s J er the small organisms can grow either in light or in total darkness but all of them require requisite amounts of air food mols mois ture and heat if one or more of these essen essenyi J requirements is lacking they cannot live and thed elayn of f ti timber m ber will not take place wood constantly sub merged in water no never ver 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 aurdry it will not decay because there will then be too little moist moisture tire the timber used y the egyptians will last indell bately so long as it is bone dry there are a great many cases however where it is impossible to keep wood submerged in ha water or in an absolutely ai air rd r d dry ry condition in fact it a large perce t age of the timber which is used is exposed to the weather and is subjected to decay sm simply ply because it contains elou h air and enough water for the becom posing organisms to get a foothold decay is most serious where the atmosphere is warm and damp because these co di dioris are most favorable for its development in the coal mines of pennsylvania timber decays d in two or three years because the temperature ii i warm and constant and the air is damp and in the south tho warm humid hu ii atmosphere often causes the timber to rapidly decompose decay may be prevented by two general methods by treating the wood with anti antiseptic antiseptics cs thus poisoning the food supply of the organisms which cause do de cay and by treating it with oils which render it waterproof A combination of these two methods is most commonly used as when wood w 0 od s treated with creosote or eo sote which fills up the pores in the timber tind band keeps out water and isalio is also a powerful antiseptic the united states government considers the investigations of the preservative treatment of timber of such importance that the business of one group of men in the forest service is is div en over entirely to the work of experiments in operation cooperation co with railroad companies and individuals in prolonging the life of railroad ties mine props bridge bride brid e tini tim bers fence posts and transmission poles advice and practical assistance is furnished all who request this advice of the district forester at ogden the lengthening of life of timber means tho saving of thousands of oi f dollars dollar annually through do ing away with the heavy expense of labor and cost of material for renewals |