THE JHAWAIIAN 



rORESTER ^ AGRICULTURIST 



Vol. XI. APRIL, 1914. No. 4 



.^ PENCE POST TEST PROGRESS REPORT. 



A year aii^o a letter ret^ardinj^ a fence jwst test was puljlislied '^• 

 in the I'^orester, that ehcited a good deal of interest. The follow- >' -'f' 

 ing progress report adds to the information tlun i^iven. It speaks 

 for itself : 



Another year has elapsed since the eiical\i)tus cornuta fence 

 posts were set at tiie College oi Hawaii farm with a view to 

 testing their durability under various ])reservative treatments, also 

 in comparison with redwood posts. The test has now coni])leted 

 its third year, (lie posts having been set about .\pril 1, 1)11. 



l\e])orting the con(Hlion of the posts in the order recorded a 

 year ago, |see Hawaiian h'orester and Agricidturist for May, 

 1913. Vol. X, No. 5, pp. 113-114.1 our findings are as follows: 



Charred posts — .Average decay 1-12 inches Ijelow surface of 

 ground, Y^-Yz inch. 



Tarred posts — Average decay 1-12 inches below surface of 

 ground, Y-IY inch. 



Creosoted posts — Average decay 6-12 inches below surface of 

 ground, trace. 



Posts set in concrete (no treatment) — Average decay 6-12 

 inches below surface of ground, badly decayed, possibly half way 

 through. 



Untreated posts — Average decay 6-12 inches below surface of 

 ground, l^^-\ inch. 



It will be noted from the above that the order in which the 

 various treatments resisted decay was as previously recorded, i, e., 

 the creosoted i)osts being best preserved, showing only a trace 

 of decay; the tarred posts (dipped in hot tar) being the second 

 best preserved. The charred posts appear to have undergone but 

 slight if any decay since the last experiment. On the other hand 

 the ])osts set in concrete show rapid disintegration, and as noted in 

 my last report, this appears a very undesirable treatment. The 

 untreated eucalyptus posts show some variation in their power 

 to resist decay"; the largest amount of decay noted was about 

 1 inch in (lei)th and the least about '4 '"ch. 



The i)osts from which the bark had not been removed at the 

 time of setting have now shed practically all the bark and aside 

 from the marred surface which resulted from the work of the 



