i9o8 FOREST SERVICE iii 



tion in preserving fence posts and rail and the tie, and held in place by 



shino-les, with a view to rendering the same spike that holds the rail, di- 



available the plentiful growth in that minishes this action. Railroads 



State of such woods as upland cypress throughout the country are giving a 



and old field pine, which have not good deal of consideration to this de- 



hitherto been considered suitable for vice; and the Forest Service has in 



such purposes. operation two pieces of experimental 



track, one near Plains, Montana, and 

 Does It Pay Other experiments are the other near Janesville, Wisconsin, 

 to Steam being undertaken to in which wooden tie plates treated with 

 the Wood learn the value of artifi- creosote are being tried. They have 

 cial seasoning. It has not been the not been down long enough to give 

 custom in this country to cut timber in definite results, but are doing well up 

 advance and allow it to dry out nat- to the present time. It is probable 

 urally before giving it preservative that screw spikes may give better re- 

 treatment ; on the contrary, the com- suits than the ordinary kind. Mr. Jul- 

 mon saying is that when a large con- ian Ranger, of Houston, Texas, has 

 tract for such treatment is made, the put in a manufacturing plant at that 

 wood is still standing in the forest, place for these plates. 

 It is essential, however, for profitable 



results, that the wood be seasoned by j^xhibition ^^^ *^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ 

 some means ; and to avoid the time q£ Humus history the United States 

 consumed by air drying, it is usual Forest Service will be 

 to give it a steam bath, which is sup- represented at a meeting of the Inter- 

 posed to volatize all the moist sub- national Association of Forest Exper- 

 stances in the wood, and follow this by iment Stations, the next session of 

 drying in a vacuum, when the vola- which will be held in Belgium, in 1910. 

 tilized matters are supposed to be 'fhe Forest Service was this year elect- 

 drawn out. The expense of this pro- ^^ ^o membership in that association, 

 cess is considerable, and there is dan- which includes forest workers from 

 ger of injury to the timber. ^ More- nearly all the nations where scientific 

 over, the benefit is doubtful ; in fact, forestry is practiced, 

 preliminary experiments at the For- Qne of the chief features of the 

 est Service have shown that at the meeting will be a unique exhibition of 

 end of the steam and vacuum process humus — the top layer of forest soils, 

 there was often more moisture in the composed of decaying organic matter, 

 wood than before. Observations will -^q similar exhibition has ever been 

 be made, therefore, on heartwood and ^eld. The humus exhibit will be 

 sapwood of both hard and soft varie- broad in its scope and will have to do 

 ties, under varying periods of the sea- ^^-^^^ the soils which produce forests, 

 soning treatm.ent, and upon check spe- protect land from erosion, store sur- 

 cimens which have not been seasoned, ^j^g water, and provide fertility, 



without which all other conditions of 



One of the ways railroad soil and climate would be in vain. 



Plat°es ties wear out is by the Twenty-five hundred samples of 



cutting in of the rails forest humus are already on hand for 



at the point where the rail lies upon the the exhibit, and scientific men expect 



surface of the tie. The pressure of the valuable results from the study which 



steel rail, under the weight of locomo- this collection from many lands will 



tives and heavily laden .ars, cuts down make possible. Among the countries 



into the tie until the track becomes which will be represented are Ger- 



unsteady. This forces the discarding many, Belgium, Denmark, France, 



of the tie even though it may not be England, Japan, Russia, Austria, 



decayed. It has been found that a Sweden, Switzerland, and the United 



strip of hardwood placed between the States. 



