WOOD PRESERVING DEPARTMENT 



499 



are as follows : French briar, red gum, ebony and birch. 

 Other woods used in the making of pipes are olivewood, 

 rosewood, and osage orange. The laboratory has started 

 an investigation of the wood and roots of a number of 

 the various species of chaparral which are so abundant 

 in the State of California, and which give promise of 

 yielding material the equal of French briar in every way. 



FEW realize the important part that wood plays in 

 the manufacture of shoes. Practically every shoe 

 is shaped over a wooden last, the life of which, 

 owing to the very rough usage and the frequent changes 

 in styles of footwear, rarely exceeds one year. About 

 twenty million lasts are produced annually at a cost of 

 over one and one-half million dollars. The greater por- 

 tion of these are made from maple, the price of which 



has advanced to such a degree that the manufacturers are 

 forced to find a suitable substitute or to decrease their 

 manufacturing costs. One of the most expensive items 

 of the manufacturing process is drying the wood. At 

 present the rough turned last blocks are air-seasoned 

 under cover for several months and then kiln-dried. 

 This necessitates a large investment in stock, interest on 

 the investment, fire insurance, and the cost of repeated 

 handlings. In an eflfort to eliminate a considerable portion 

 of this expense one of the large manufacturers is co- 

 operating with the forest products laboratory in an effort 

 to perfect a method of kiln-drying the blocks green from 

 the mill. Sufficient progress has been made to indicate 

 that a solution of this problem will be found. Hundreds 

 of rough turned green blocks are being dried in the labora- 

 tory experimental kilns in a very short time and with 

 promising results. 



Wood Preserving Department 



By E. a. Sterling 



THE continued popularity of creosoted wood-block 

 pavements is indicated by the new contracts which 

 are coming out from time to time during the sum- 

 mer. These include 66,140 square yards of streets in York, 

 Pennsylvania, specifications for which call for wood block, 

 as well as other materials, involving a total of about 

 2,400,000 feet of lumber. In Kansas City the contem- 

 plated pavements will involve about 39,227 square yards ; 

 while Fort Worth, Texas, has awarded a contract for 

 about 30,000 square yards on the main street in that city. 



A]\IEETING of Committee Xo. 2 of the American 

 Wood Preservers' Association on Specifications 

 for the Purchase and Preservation of Treatable 

 Timber was held on July 22nd, in Chicago. The chair- 

 man, Mr. A. R. Joyce, presided, and plans were made for 

 the work of the Committee during the year. These 

 involve recommendations of specifications for insertion 

 in the " Alanual," an analysis of the conditions which influ- 

 ence the availability and cost of railroad cross ties for 

 treatment, an investigation of the life and service of 

 treated ties and other material in the East and Southeast, 

 and other details on the subjects assigned. 



AS PART of the educational work which the lumber 

 industry is now engaged in, exhibits showing 

 models of farm buildings, samples of commercial 

 woods, and other interesting materials, will be shown at 

 a number of the larger state fairs this fall. These exhibits 

 will include samples of treated material, such as creosoted 



fence posts, creosoted barn sills, and boards and smaller 

 dimension timbers which it would be profitable for the 

 farmer and home builder to use. Although the preserva- 

 tive treatment of timber has become so well established 

 as a commercial practice, it remains more or less a mysteri- 

 ous process to the small consumer, and the aim is to show 

 how simple and economical the practice is when applied 

 to small quantities of wood for home use. In a recent 

 bulletin of the National Lumber Manufacturers' Associa- 

 tion on " Preservative Treatment of Farm Timbers," it 

 is stated that " The saving is another point which does 

 not need to be reckoned closely, since it is so certain that 

 satisfactory results will be obtained. From the many 

 cases where pressure creosoted timber has shown no signs 

 of decay for 40 years or more, down to the extra life 

 which a light brush treatment will give, many gradations 

 in results are obtained. There is no question as to the 

 economy of a creosoted Cottonwood post, which lasts 20 

 }ears, when one without treatment decays in three or 

 four, nor of having sills, basement flooring, fences, gates 

 and lumber in many other forms last at least two or 

 three times the normal life. 



" The most enthusiastic atlvocates of treated material 

 are those who have used the largest quantities. Most 

 of the large railroads of the country creosote their cross 

 ties and bridge timbers, and from this large use down 

 to the smallest consumer, results are almost invariably 

 obtained which are in keeping with the thoroughness and 

 care with which the work is done. By creosoting all 

 farm timbers exposed to decay, and by using reasonable 

 care to secure at least a uniform coating or penetration, a 

 saving will result which will make for economy, perma- 

 nence, and attractiveness of nearly all farm structures." 



