500 SIDERETIZING. [Dec. 



During the progress of the work the superintendent should see 

 that everything is going on with the greatest possible activity and 

 regularity. The peelers should not be allowed to lag behind the 

 cutters ; on the contrary, let them be so close up to them that while 

 they may not be out of wood, there may at the same time be but a 

 small quantity of unpeeled wood left over-night, as it gets much 

 stiffer to peel the longer it lies after it is cut. The state of the 

 weather affects the progress of the work. A genial shower after cold 

 weather makes the stripping much easier, and gives a better quality 

 of bark, while continued drought has the opposite effect. There is a 

 great deal connected with the stripping and drying of bark that can 

 only be learned from having participated in the work. AYhen the 

 hands have been hardened with the use of the various tools, it becomes 

 a much easier matter for a man to lead on others with expedition. 

 The peeling is generally performed by women, and, along with the 

 drying, costs 35s. to 50s. per ton, according to the size of the trees, 

 rate of wages, and other circumstances. 



As the cutting and peeling advances, there should be a party 

 following burning up the brushwood, so that the growth of the young 

 shoots may not be obstructed in any way ; it is very bad manage- 

 ment to delay this and the collecting of the wood till after the 

 peeling is finished. The young crop is sure to sustain permanent 

 injury if these operations are delayed till the shoots have begun to 

 grow. 



In another paper W'ill be given the mode of planting, thinning, etc. 



SIDERETIZING, OR IMPREGNATING WITH IRON 



N the Journal of the Gcorlitz ExJtihition is published a new 

 process, by a chemist. Dr. Hermann Hager, for the better pre- 

 servation of the various woods mostly used for posts, and cellar joists, 

 and such purposes, including also the softer w^oods ; and it seems 

 to be at least worth testing by further experiments. This process, 

 called by its inventor " Sideretizing," consists in thoroughly soaking 

 the wood in a hot solution of salts of iron, and then, after it has 

 been dried, placing it in a hot bath of Wasscrglas (a sort of glass 

 containing a larger proportion of potash than of sand). During this 

 bath the water-glass solution forms with the salts of iron a perfectly 

 insoluble silicate of iron in the outer layers of the wood, which has 

 no effect on the smell or colour of the wood. This coating of silicate 

 of iron surrounds, with a defensive armour against all outward influ- 

 ences, the inner layers, which are permeated by iron salts, and thus 



