546 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



of experiments conducted in lOOG by the Forest Service in cooperation with the 

 Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company to determine the best 

 methods for prolonging the life of mine timber. 



Decay is found to cause 45 per cent of the destruction, crush or squeeze 35 

 per cent, and insects and waste 10 per cent each. The chief object of the ex- 

 perimental work was to determine the benefits to be derived by peeling, season- 

 ing or drying out, and by treating with a wood preservative, as well as to de- 

 termine the comparative value of different kinds of wood for gangway timber. 

 Pennsylvania pitch pine {Pinus rigida) and Southern Job lolly pine (P. toeda) 

 were the principal species tested, together with red oak {Quercus rubra) and 

 chestnut (Castanea dentata) which are regarded as species suitable for plant- 

 ing in the anthracite region of- Pennsylvania. 



Sets of round gangway timber, averaging 1.3 in. in diameter, were used in the 

 experiment. The timber was treated with a variety of preservatives under 

 the brush, open tank, and cylinder methods of application. A summarized state- 

 ment is given of tlie various sets of timber. 



The results thus far appear to show that it will pay mining companies to 

 peel their round timber, to season it for a few months, and treat it thoroughly 

 with some good preservative. Pitch pine and loblolly pine were treated both 

 efficiently and economically with creosote by the open tank process. Timbers 

 treated with creosote by the cylinder process are also standing well, but the 

 open tank method is said to be far less expensive and to give universally better 

 results. Timbers treated with creosote and carbolineum by the brush method 

 have resisted decay, and it is believed that this method owing to its simplicity 

 may prove advantageous for small consumers, or in cases where the timber is 

 in great danger of being broken by excessive crushes. 



An outline is given of a timber policy for the successful preservative treat- 

 ment of mine timber, together with a diagram of a small commercial plant for 

 treating mine timbers, cross-ties, cross arms, etc. 



The preservation of timber (ScL Amer. Suj)., 6-i (1907), No. 16.'i8, pp. 71, 

 72). — Tliis article, taken from the Builder, contains an account of investigations 

 on the preservation of timber being conducted by H. Deveaux and H. Bouygues 

 for the Administration of the State Railways of France. Although the investi- 

 gation is still under way, tabular data are here given and discussed in regard 

 to the penetration of heat into timber and the weight of water actually absorbed 

 by some of the cylinders during the process of treatment. From the data 

 secured it is concluded that the' time required for the penetration of heat into a 

 cylinder may be taken without serious error as being inversely proportional to 

 the square of the diameter. 



The life and preservation of pitch-pine fence posts, B. C. Butfum {Wyo- 

 ming Sta. Bui. 75, pp. IS, figs. 7). — This bulletin contains an account of an ex- 

 periment inaugurated at the station in 1801 to determine the best means of 

 preserving fence posts, together with the results noted after a period of 16 

 years had elapsed. Eighty posts were included in the experiment, which was 

 divided into 16 lots of 5 each. These were treated with tar and crude oil or 

 petroleum in various ways, and in some cases the posts were simply charred. 

 Check plats of both good and poor posts were left untreated. 



According to the author, the best treatment and one which proved highly 

 successful consisted in dipping the lower ends of the posts in crude petro- 

 leum and burning off the oil a sufficient distance to come above the ground 

 when set. " The 16 years had made but slight inroads on the posts thus treated 

 and they apparently would last indefinitely." 



Fairly good results were secured by simply dipping the lower 2* ft. of the 

 posts either in crude oil or in tar, with the preference in favor of the oil. Well 



