ARBORICULTURE. 



345 



The Cross Tie Problem. 



The Hardwood Record. Chicago^ is a 

 live, pTogi-essive journal of lumbering. It 

 does not stop with telling how to get rid 

 of the timber but urges the planting of 

 trees and proper management of the tim- 

 ber. 



The description of individual species of 

 American trees, with illustrations of their 

 characteristics, is of immense value to tbe 

 peopli'.- We reprint a part of the article 

 on cross-ties from tbe July 25th number. 



Swelling the general cry of distress over 

 the failing timber supply of the United 

 States comes the plaint of the railroads that 

 they are uncertain where to turn for a fu- 

 ture supply of cross-ties. The opinion is ex- 

 pressed by experts who have studied this 

 question particularly, that were there no 

 other great consumers of forest products, at 

 the present rate of demand for material of 

 this kiad, it would 'be a question of only a 

 few years before the timber of the country 

 would disappear before its growing insist- 

 ence. 



In 1905 the steam railroads of the United 

 States purchased a total of 77,981,227 ties, 

 of which a very large percentage was oak. 

 In 1900 the steam and street railroads pur- 

 chased a total of 102,834,042 ties. Of this 

 great nnm'ber 45,3Go,426, or nearly fifty per 

 cent, were of oak; the soufhern pines fur- 

 nished the next largest quantity, or 18,834.- 

 514: of cedar ties there were purchased 

 8.085,302; of Douglas fir, 7,248,562; of chest- 

 nut, 6,588,966; of cypress, 4,103,296. The re- 

 mainder consisted of western, lodgepole and 

 white pine, hemlock, tamarack, redwood and 

 a few other kinds, small in comparison with 

 the above figures. Of the total purchased in 

 1906, 77,493,994 were hewn, while 25,340,048 

 were sawn. It is estimated that one-fourt'h 

 the total quantity of oak timber cut last 

 year went into railroad ties. 



The seriousness of the situation has re- 

 sulted in prolonged experimenting with va- 

 rious wood-preserving methods, as it is fully 

 realized that the life of each individual tie 

 must te prolonged as far as possible. The 

 chemical treatment of wood has 'been found 

 advantageous in other lines of consumption, 

 so that it is becoming increasingly popu- 

 lar with railroads, and nearly tea per cent 

 Oi the total number of ties purc^hased in 1905 

 were given some sort of preservative treat- 

 ment. 



On account of the increasing difficulty in 

 obtaining a supply of cross ties and other 

 timibers, and the rapidly advancing prices, 

 the American Railway Association has as- 



signed to its Tie Committee the work of 

 studying existing conditions and presenting 

 a report of their investigations and recom- 

 mendations at its next meeting. The com- 

 mittee will hold a series of conferences and 

 take up methods of preserving ties, the best 

 materials for mafcinig a lasting product, and 

 the value of metal and concrete for this 

 purpose. 



One of the large industries of Evansville, 

 Ind., is its tie-preserving plant. From all 

 parts of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys they 

 are shipped and chemically treated at the 

 rate of 3,000 a day. It is claimed that this 

 number of ties will lay a mile of track an,d 

 that they will last for fifteen years. With 

 the preservative process in use; there tiifliOer 

 heretofore unavailable is made highly desir- 

 able. For example, there is considerable 

 red oak sapling growth in Indiana Which 

 has not* been used owing to the fact that 

 the timber was not thought fit for any of the 

 uses which would cause it to be exposed to 

 any considerable degree. It is hard and 

 strong, but soon decays in the ground. 

 Treated with chemicals, 'however, red oak 

 ties will remain solid for fifteen years or 

 more. The process employed is to place them 

 in a retort and then draw out all the sap and 

 tannic acid 'by a vacuum pressure. At the 

 end of five hours the ties are filled with the 

 preservative inside and out, and so per- 

 meated that when laid open with an axe 

 they show black through and through. This 

 particular plant has been in operation only 

 a few months, and already has more stand- 

 ing orders than it can turn out in a year, 

 so that it will be necessary to increase its ca- 

 pacity several times over. It is estimated 

 that 10,000 lumber jacks are at work along 

 Green river and its Kentucky tributaries 

 cutting up timber for railroad ties. In the 

 foiest they bring from 25 cents to 50 cents 

 each, but when treated will sell for two or 

 tliree times this amount. 



The Southern Pacific Railroad has im- 

 ported 1,500,000 oak ties from Japan of late, 

 to be used mainly on its California lin^s. 



California electric lines have purchased 

 50,000 oak ties from Japan up to this time, 

 and intend to order many more. 



The Union Pacific has a tie preserving 

 plant at Laramie, Wyo., and its tie drive 

 from the Platte river, which arrived at Ft. 

 Steele this spring, will amount to more than 

 1,200,000 railroad ties and bridge timbers, 

 all of which will be treated in the Laramie 

 plant. 



Among the railways which have begun 

 tree planting on a large scale, the Louis- 



