714 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



or until the majority now in place have 

 been removed. A more immediate sav- 

 ing, and one which would save the cost 

 of the poles as well as the expense of 

 resetting them, would be a treatment 

 which could be applied successfully to 

 the millions of poles now in place. 



The conditions under which poles are 

 used vary so greatly that an average 

 cost figure for pole renewals is difficult 

 to determine. Generally speaking, the 

 cost may vary from $1 to $2 per pole 

 for country telephone lines to $100 or 

 more for the high poles in city streets. 

 The initial cost of the pole varies from 

 $1.80 for a 25-foot cedar pole to $16.21 

 for a 60-foot pole of the same, or 

 $17.08 for a chestnut pole of the same 

 length, to which must be added the 

 labor of setting, restringing wires, ac- 

 cessories, etc. A fair average for a 

 commercial line along railroads or 

 through country districts, with three to 

 five cross-arms, would be about $10 per 

 pole, including all items. This would 

 mean that the poles now in use in the 

 country represent a value of $320,000,- 

 000, and that the annual renewals cost 

 in the neighborhood of $10,000,000. It 

 is obvious that any treatment which 

 can be applied to the standing poles, 

 and which will increase the life of those 

 now in use even a few years, will result 



m an enormous savmg. 



Practically all poles fail at the ground 

 line because of decay, and on account 

 of this weakening at the base have to 

 be replaced or cut off and reset, while 

 the top portion is still sound. This de- 

 cay is caused by wood-destroying fungi 

 which have a definite origin and de- 

 velop under the same fixed laws of 

 growth that govern the higher forms 

 of vegetable life. Fungus growth has 

 its origin in microscopic spores wdiich 

 are comparable to the seeds of plants, 

 and as they are present nearly every- 

 where, it merely remains for them to 

 find favorable conditions under which 

 to germinate and develop the micro- 

 scopic threads which permeate the 

 tissues of the wood and destroy its 

 texture. The fundamental factors 

 necessary for the growth of fungi are 

 moisture, air, and a certain degree of 

 w'armth. 



These conditions are found in favor- 

 able combination at tht ground line of 

 poles, where the moisture from the 

 earth keeps the surface of the wood 

 moist, and where, just underneath the 

 surface, the soil maintains, except dur- 

 ing the winter season, a sufficient de- 

 gree of warmth for the fungi to de- 

 velop. It follows, therefore, that the 

 decay of poles appears from a few 

 inches above the ground line to a dis- 

 tance of a foot or more beneath, the 

 air being more or less excluded at the 

 basal portion of a pole ; while above the 

 ground line, under ordinary conditions, 

 insufficient moisture is present for the 

 rapid development of decay. 



Despite the clearly defined factors 

 which cause the decay of poles at the 

 ground line, and the annual renewal of 

 millions of poles still sound at the top, 

 no definite steps have been taken until 

 recently to reduce or prevent this waste 

 of timber. There has recently been de- 

 vised by an old gentleman living in 

 New Jersey a plan which promises to 

 materially reduce the consumption of 

 poles and greatly increase the life of 

 those now standing. If it succeeds it 

 will be another step in the reduction of 

 the drain on our forest resources. 



What is now known as the Lamb 

 pole treatment first renders innocuous 

 the decay which has already started, 

 and then seals the ground line portion 

 of the pole with an impervious preser- 

 vative coating, which prevents the 

 evaporation of the preservative previ- 

 ously applied and prevents further de- 

 cay by entirely eliminating air and 

 moisture. 



The whole process is simple and in- 

 expensive, and consists of first remov- 

 ing the dirt around the base of the 

 pole to a depth of two to two and a half 

 feet, and scraping or cutting off the 

 decayed portions of the wood. A hot 

 brush treatment of coal tar creosote is 

 then applied liberally, which kills the 

 living organisms of decay and pene- 

 trates the outer tissues of the wood. 

 A fire-proof casing is then placed 

 around the pole, the upper portion ex- 

 tending about six inches above the 

 ground line and the lower portion from 

 eighteen inches to two feet below, mak- 



