938 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



road pa\ement. It follows, therefore, that creosoted 

 longleaf pine lilocks are being advocated and used, 

 thereb}' stimulating local industries, and at the same time 

 gi\ing the best possible service. 



EXd'.kV progressi\e farmer has or needs a silo. 

 This has been so evident and the developments 

 SI I rapid that the prospective buyer is confused by 

 the claims of sild manufacturers representing many ma- 

 terials. While lirick. tile, cement and even galvanized 

 iron have been used, unbiased opinions hold that the 

 wooden silo is bv far the best. To overcome an\ possible 

 objections to wooden silos on account of decay or shrink- 

 age the Acme Tie Co.. of Reed City, Mich., has during 

 the past year put on the market what is kudwn .is the 

 "Acme Creosoted Sta\'e Silos." The sta\'es are given an 

 empty cell rueping treatment of six pounds of coal tar 

 creosote ])er cul)ic foot. They come out of the cylinders 

 thoroughly impregnated, yet with no surface oil to con- 

 taminate the silage or make the erection work oljjection- 

 able. The completed creosoted silo is rendered entirely 

 immune from decay, checking and shrinking, and the ne- 

 cessity of repeated painting is renio\ed since the creosote 

 is permanent. 



The question of whether the creosote will taint the 

 silage is covered by statements and experiments by \ari- 



ous agricultural colleges and individuals. Prof. F. M. 

 White, of the University of Wisconsin, states that "Staves 

 of anv material should either be painted or creosoted. 

 ... If used on staves the staves should be soaked in 

 the creosote rather than ])ainted, although painting is of 

 some value. There will be some odor of the creosote in 

 the silage. Inn the cattle will soon become accustomed to 

 the smell .-ind no harmful effects follow." .V practical 

 farmer in lnwa states that "I ha\e four silos, one is 

 creosoted. have fed from them two years, and will posi- 

 tively sav that the ensilage in the creosoted silo is as 

 sweet and nice around the walls as in the others, no 

 effect of the creosote whatever; ha\e ne\er tightened the 

 hoops on the creosoted silo and it has Ijeen in use two 

 \ears. I will recommend them highly." .Vnother farmer 

 wild ha> useii a creosoted silo for five years rej)orts 

 that, "The silage is not tainted by the creosote, at least 

 not to any extent. The stock relish it, it seems to me." 



An imijortant point in Cdnnection with what is bound 

 til l)e substantial de\elopments in the use of creosoted 

 silo sta\es is that a superficial treatment by painting or 

 dipping does not gi\'e the same satisfactory results as 

 ]iressure treatment bv an emptv cell process. In the 

 former case there is much more likelihood of free surface 

 oil and contamination. 



Woodlot Values Worth Investigating 



THE marketing of farm timber presents some of 

 the same difhculties. but in an aggravated form, 

 that the farmer meets in selling other crops. sa>s 

 a Forest Service contriliutidn to the ^'ear I'luok nf the 

 Department of .\gricidture, jirst issued. The farmer 

 finds it hard tci get enough for his timber, \bist farmers 

 now sell their saw timljer on the stump ti i a null man, 

 such sales ordinarily being made for a hmip sum. The 

 mill man. e.xperienced in estimating, goes tbrdugh the 

 woods and sizes up the i|uantity and x.ilue df the timbe'' 

 he w.aiUs. The owner, lieing a farmer and not a lum- 

 lierman. selilum knows an\ thing about estimating timlier 

 .and has onh' the vaguest idea of what it ought to liring. 

 The consei|uence of this condition is that the farmer 

 often receives onlv a small fraction of the actual market 

 \alue df his stimipage. 



.\stdnishing examples of what a farmer may thus 

 throw awa\- are often encountered by foresters, continues 

 the article. P'or instance, a Massachusetts farmer sold -i 

 million feet of timlier to a portable sawmill m.in for 

 .Sl.'.'oo. and lliouglu he had obtained a good price. I li> 

 rieighbor. howe\er. who knew >onietlung about timber, 

 got ST. 000 for the same (|uaiuity of white pine from the 

 very same portable null man. The fu'st farmer, on 

 account of his ignorance, practicalh' presente<l the mill 

 man with S."i,S(l(l; the second owner was wise enough to 



learn before he attempted to sell his timber how much 

 he had and what it ought to bring him in luoney. 



The jiroductive cap.acity of the "'o(l million acres of 

 farm lands tlironghout the couiUry which either have or 

 ^hould ha\'e timber growing on them is enormous, says 

 the article. This area is larger than all the national 

 forests put together, and with an annual growth of "ioo 

 board feet per acre of saw timber — a moderate allowance 

 under the practice of fore>tr\- — it would produce an- 

 nually fore\er .about lo liUlion feet, or the equivalent of 

 tlie entire lumber cut of the countrw in addition to not 

 less than I'.'o nullion cords of lirewood. 



These figures, continues the article, probably never 

 will be realized, for the reason that the present area of 

 farm woodlands is much greater than it will be exentu 



all), l-'or example, w Hand comprises .'!! [ler cent of 



the entire farm area of ihe South, and undoubteilly much 

 of this land will be piU to other uses than timber grow- 

 ing. .\e\ertheless. the farmers of the United States 

 riow own ,it least ".'"lO billion feet of saw timber and 1 !/•" 

 billion cords of cordwood. and this timber should pro- 

 duce a substantial part of their incomes. Farmers ought 

 to make the most of their timber, and the public should 

 be interested in this (|uestion for the reason that the N.ast 

 aggregate of farm timber shoidd be available to snp|ile- 

 nient the other sources of the genei-.d supply. 



