BOAT AND P. ARGE CONSTRUCTION 517 



The fire scars which in time burn out kind above described should receive the 



and destroy old longleaf pine have support of the State in his efforts to 



usually been formed by fires burning keep out fire and protect reproduction 



in a dry season and in several years of pine, which under proper conditions 



accumulated litter. he j^ almost certain to get. But a 



In the light of these facts it would promiscuous enforcement of forest fire 



be very questionable policy for South- i^^s, borrowed whole from Northern 



ern States by legislation to prohibit the g^^^ .^,^^1 ^^j^^.,., ,,,,,,,;^^^ ^^ the 



burning of woods or attempt to prevent g^^^^, ^^-^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^,^ -^ ^^ ,^,^j 



the use or fire, it would be far wiser ^ ^ ^^ ^- r ^- , ^ . .1 



for those States to establish State ^ut dissatisfaction and contempt on the 



forestry departments with a technically P^'^ °^ practica men for forestry A 



trained man in charge, who can devote '.^""^^y °/ ^'^^^"^^ conditions and laws 



his entire time to educating and en- designed to meet these conditions is 



couraging land owners to practise ^he only route by which the South will 



forestry by kee[)ing their natural forest ^ver improve her wonderful opportunity 



land in timber. An owner who desires to preserve her lumber industry for 



to establish a protected area of the future generations. 



ECONOMIC MATERIALS FOR BOAT AND BARGE 



CONSTRUCTION 



By a. E. Hagebokcis ^" charge of Cresoting Operations U. S. Bngineer's 



Office, Rock Island, III. 



OUR office has been collecting data ends. As a good pressure treatment 



on the cost of repairs of our will always plug the ends of the timbers, 



standard barge, 100 ft. x 20 ft. x it is easy to understand why such good 



4 ft. 7 in., for the past 20 years. As we results have been obtained in the past 



are building the same size barge today, with a pressure treatment of coal-tar 



the cost of repairs will be directly com- creosote oil. 



parable. In former years the opinion was held 



It has been found practical to frame that it would not pay to creosote a 

 and creosote the timbers in transit at a barge because it would wear out before 

 commercial treating plant, and then for- it decayed. This may be true under 

 ward the timbers to the point of erec- certain conditions. Init as a general 

 tion. By marking the pieces that can- proposition I have found the lumber de- 

 not be easily identified, it is possible to cays first, and when in this decayed con- 

 assemble the barge quite rapidly. dition is easily broken. 



In the past five years I have examined For barges used in fresh water it is 

 a large number of untreated barges at not considered necessary to creosote the 

 various points on the river that have bottom, as it has been found that the 

 been in service from four to fifteen bottom plank rarely decays. This fact 

 years. From these observations I would can probably be attributed to the ex- 

 say that the decay always starts where elusion of air, as a barge usuallv con- 

 there is an excess of moisture, together tains 4 to G inches of water on the inside, 

 with the air and heat. In 90 per cent In constructing light draft barges it 

 of the cases the decay starts in the ends has been our policy to use the pressure 

 of the timbers. That is to say, the de- creosoted fir. as fir can be obtained in 

 cay develops in the same ratio as the long lengths at a reasonable cost. Long 

 wood absorbs moisture through the timbers are especially desirable in barge 



