May 2, 1887.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



75i 



THE PRESEEVATION OF TIMBER. 



In buildings of timber in whole or in part, it is 

 coramouly found that from exposure to weather, in- 

 sects and other causes the timber frequently decays 

 in the course of a few years and has to be replaced. 

 To avoid this extra expense the process of inject- 

 ing some chemical substance into th.i timber is worthy 

 the attention of selectors and others, who, in erect- 

 ing the necessary buidlings art! sometimes obliged to 

 use timber of inferior quality owius^ to deficient sea- 

 soning or some other cause, which tends to lessen 

 its durability, and which, if it could be cheaply pre- 

 vented, would certainly he worthy of being put in 

 practice. 



The decomposition and decay of timber is a natural 

 process, which, sooner or later, renders it useless for 

 economic purposes, but for nature's purposes the more 

 rapidly it is decomposed into its component elemeats 

 and mingles with the soil the better it is for living 

 Tegetation. This being the case it is evidently the 

 business of men to retard, if they cannot altogether 

 stop, decay from proceeding. One of the first and 

 most common of the various methods that have been 

 employed is to shelter it from the weather, a method 

 whichin the case of all, but more especially some parti- 

 cular kinds, enables it to remain sound for many years, 

 even for oenturies, in the case of some species. 

 Pillars of mosques in Kashmir of the wood of the 

 Deodar are found sound after being 400 years in use, 

 and, says Baron von Mueller, bridges of still greater 

 antiquity are in existence. Most sorts of timber, how- 

 ever, decay much more rapidly, some not lasting even a 

 lifetime, and to abate that failing and render the timber 

 more lasting, various substances have been used and 

 processes proposed, some chemicals actiug in one way 

 and some in another. By one process the destruction of 

 the sap is aimed at and the consequent drying and 

 hardening of the woody fibre ; in another tlie attempt 

 is made to destroy or alter the albuminous matter in 

 the sap ; while other experimentors have endeavored 

 to effect the object by forming insoluble precipitates 

 with metallic salts. To effect the destruction or eli- 

 mination of the sap heat has been employed from 

 the earliest ages, and the practice of charring the 

 ends of posts to be sunk in the ground has been 

 aniversal, and is still practised to a large extent, 

 thoagh it does not prove very satisfactory. A much 

 better method of effecting the object is to dry the 

 timber in the warm atmosphere of a heated chamber ; 

 by this means the sap may be nearly or altogether 

 expelled, and the timber so consolidated as to become 

 extremely durable if kept dry ; but the proceea, like 

 most others, is expensive. The total expulsion of the 

 sap through the production of a vacuum has been re- 

 commended. Various methods for the neutralisation 

 of the properties of the sap have been recommended, 

 among others floating the timber in water for a 

 time has been practised. Half a century ago kyanis- 

 ing timber was all the rage iu Britain. Mr. Kyans 

 process was the injection of chloride of mercury in- 

 to the timber, but the practice fell into disuetude 

 after s short time. Then Burnett proposed the in- 

 jection of chloride of zinc ; Lege and Pironette that 

 of sulphate of copper ; Payne's preparation of sulphate 

 of iron and muriate of lime were all experimented 

 with and had their day. Bethell's creosotiug process, 

 on the same principle, has led to an adoption of 

 that substance in the northern hemisphere, and also 

 in Austral a, though it is generally applied by afely 

 painting the i^urtace of the sawn timber. Th era- 

 tionale of Bethell's process is described thus: — " "When 

 injected into a piece of wood the creosote coagulates 

 the aUmmen, an) thus prevents putrefactive de- 

 composition, and the bituminous oils, being insoluble 

 in water and unaffected by air, r«Q:ler the process 

 universally applicnhle. " This method is one which 

 can be easily practised anywhere. Unrefined creosote 

 can be ob'aiiied at a low ra^f. nn'\ hii-ivIv requires 

 to be laid on with a painter's b.ush. It can be used 

 for quartering, battens, latus au 1 other limbers re- 

 quired for roofing and other parts of house building. 

 It is especially applicable to stables and other out- 

 buildings ; iucreasiug the endurance of the timber, and 



saving it from the attacks of ants, other noxious in- 

 sects and fungoid parasites. 



Lime is another useful preservative. It has been 

 observed that old lime boards hardly ever decay, and 

 when posts iu the ground are surrounded with lime they 

 remain sound for a great length of time. The scienti- 

 fic method of using lime is to form a solution of it in 

 water in which to immerse the timber, which causes 

 similar chemical changes as when subjected to the 

 action of the metallic agents or to the process of 

 creosotiug, precipitating albuminous matters, and thus 

 rendering them inactive. The timber also takes up 

 lime as caustic lime, and on the subsequent exposure 

 of the wood to the air the excess of lime which re- 

 mains in the wood gradually absorbs carbonic acid, 

 and the woody fibre throughout the whole mass be- 

 comes coated with insoluble carbonate of lime and 

 the wood may be said to be mineralised to 'some 

 extent. As described in the Garden, "pits or ponds 

 may be constructed, varying in size and position 

 with the locality in which they are made and the 

 quantity of timber to be soaked, a common pond being 

 quite sufficient for the purpose; all that is essential 

 is to have sufficient size and depth to hold the timber 

 requiring to bo soaked." Thus iu the building of a 

 farm house, if a pond is not available, a reservoir 

 capable of containing the timber required may be 

 easily formed, its sides and bottom planked or merely 

 clayed, so as to retain the water, of which a com- 

 paratively small quantity will suffice to cover the timber 

 when immersed. The water is first to be run into 

 the tank, and then suflScient lime to completely satu- 

 rate the water and some to spare, for as the water 

 will only take up a definite portion, an excess of 

 lime will do no harm. It requires only 88 grains of 

 chalk or stone lime to impregnate a gallon of water, 

 so that a bushel of lime will sufiice for several barrels 

 of water; but as it is best to err on the safe side 

 au excess of lime should be used. 



It need hardly be expected that many persons will 

 take the trouble to prepare their timber so that it 

 may last during two or three generations instead of 

 only one, still there are many things, such as tools, 

 implements and machines, that are much exposed to 

 the weather which would repay any outlay that might 

 be incurred in such a simple process. The timber ought 

 to remain in the lime water for ten days or a fort- 

 night. — Leader. 



^ 



FISH WASTE. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE "INDIAN AGRICULTURIST" 



Sir,— As British Vice-Consul in the Loffoden Islands, 

 I have pursued with much interest Dr. Aitken's 

 excellent article on the important subject of fi«h waste, 

 and I heartily agree with all he says in favour of 

 fish as a manure, and also with his remark that a 

 "more perfect util'satjon of the refuse would enhance 

 the value of our fisheries and prove a national gain." 



Dr. Aitken's description of the wonderful richness 

 of the Norwegian fisheries is not exaggerated, but 

 there are one or two slight inaccuracies in regard 

 to the manufactures which I may correct in passing. 

 The oil in cod-fish is contained exclusively in the livers — 

 iu the flesh the quantity does not amount to 1 per 

 cent, consequently the onh' oil obtainable from cod is 

 the Irrer oil, which is used for medicinal purposes and 

 for leather dressing, not for lubricating. As a lubricator 

 it is useless, for exposure to the air deoxydizes it, 

 and it becomes quite viscous. In the herring the 

 livers are exceedingly small; the oil, therefore, is con- 

 tained chiefly in the flesh, and the percentages vary 

 from 3 per cent to 10 per cent, according to the sea- 

 son and the fatness of the fish. 



During my visit to England last winter there was 

 some discussion in 2'he Times on the subject of fish 

 manure, as Dr. Aitkea so properly terms it. Fish cpiano 

 is the excreta of birds wl'ose diet consists solely of 

 fish. Fish manure is refwe dried by machinery and 

 ground to powder, it is less soluble than the guano, 

 or huano, which is the Spanish term. Sir J. B. 

 Lavves drew attention to the wonderfully similar 

 chemical composition of cattle and of fish, both of 



