484 The Journal of Forestry. 



defect lies in the principle of charring posts, even when carefully done ; 

 wood being a Lad conductor of heat, the charred posts are not. only 

 weakened by the process at the very place where strength is most 

 required, they are also often very imperfectly dried. As an example 

 of the good effect of hoiling stobs in coal tar, on the estate just 

 mentioned I assisted sixteen years ago to prepare some young Scotch 

 fir stobs which were treated in this way ; the wood from which they 

 were made was thirty years of age, and the wire fence in which the 

 stobs were used is still standing. 



Had they not been boiled they would not have stood longer than 

 six years. When the posts are of redwood larch this process has 

 little effect, as the tar does not enter easily into the fibre of the 

 wood — that is, it does no more good than if laid on with a brush. 



The method of preserving which I practise myself — I use nothing 

 but larch, chiefly redwood — is to have the posts stacked outside 

 for twelve months at least in an open airy place. The alter- 

 nate wet and dry when standing outside appear to season them 

 more thoroughly, and they do not suffer otherwise from it. 

 Two months previous to tarring have them removed under a 

 covered shed where there is a free circulation of air. The tar is 

 simply laid on with a brush for some distance both above and below 

 the ground level of the post. It is best to apply the first coat hot, 

 but other two coats may be given cold, always allowing the former 

 one to dry first. I may mention in passing, that if it is intended to 

 paint the fence, the bottom of the posts should be painted also, as paint 

 does not retain its colour when applied above tar. A paint which we 

 have used extensively for outside work, and which answers this purpose 

 admirably, is Messrs. W, Carson and Son's anti-corrosion preparation. 

 With the bark on, some kinds of wood do not appear to season at all 

 outside, and when it is intended for stobs it sliould be put under 

 cover immediately after felling. 



This treatment is very advantageous to Scotch fir posts. In con- 

 clusion, I think it bad economy, with the present high rate of 

 labour, and when no preserving is resorted to, to use any other kind 

 of wood for fence-posts than good larch, with as much redwood in it 

 as can be sot. W. W \l. 



