ao 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



on cloth and velvet wheels. Hair wheels also 

 come into play for this work. Then follows 

 varnishing, shellacing, etc. 



Parts of tools are also made from the 

 wood. Fig. 10 shows a hardwood handle, 



rawhide. The firmness of much of the water- 

 logged wood makes it suitable for this 

 service. It can also be employed in fencing, 

 and Fig. 12 illustrates a design made ac- 

 cordingly. Finally is shown the hardwood 



and Fig. 11 a hammer head, capped with picture frame. 



The Cross=Tie Problem. 



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 

 expressed 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 kind, 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 1906 the steam and street railroads pur- 

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

 great number 45,363,426, or nearly fifty per 

 cent, were of oak ; the southern 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 

 chestnut, 6,588,966; of cypress, 4,103,296. 

 The remainder 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 pur- 

 chased in 1906, 77,493,994 were hewn, while 

 25,340,048 were sawn. It is estimated that 

 one-fourth 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 be 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 popular 

 with railroads, and nearly ten per cent of 

 the total number of ties purchased 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 

 timbers, and the rapidly advancing prices, the 

 American Bailway Association has assigned 

 to its Tie Committee the work of studying 

 existing conditions and presenting a report 

 of their investigations and recommendations 

 at its next meeting. The committee will hold 

 a series of conferences and take up methods 

 of preserving ties, the best materials for 

 making 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 ilisaissippi valleys 

 they are shipped and chemical!}' treated at 

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



this number of ties will lay a mile of track 

 and that they will last for fifteen years. 

 With the preservative process in use there 

 timber heretofore unavailable is made highly 

 desirable. 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 

 ex-posed 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 pres- 

 sure. At the end of five hours the ties are 

 filled with the preservative inside and out, 

 and so permeated 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 

 standing orders than it can turn out in a 

 year, so that it will be necessary to increase 

 its capacity several times over. It is esti- 

 mated that 10,000 lumber jacks are at work 

 along Green river and its Kentucky tribu- 

 tai-ies cutting up timber for railroad ties. 

 In the forest they bring from 25 cents to 50 

 cents each, but when treated will sell for 

 two or three times this amount. 



It is not generally known that trees killed 

 by forest fires can be used for important 

 purposes, the common opinion being that 

 dead timber is synonymous with decayed 

 wood. In the West, however, there are a 

 number of large tracts of fire-killed trees 

 which are just as sound as ever, thirty years 

 after they were burned. It has been found 

 that the strength of this timber is not im- 

 paired by fire, and that its durability is 

 often increased; hence it is now being used 

 to considerable extent for ties. As compared 

 with green ties, the fire-killed ones have been 

 found to show remarkably good results, in 

 some cases lasting even longer ; that their 

 value is appreciated is shown by the fact 

 that their selling price is often the same as 

 for green stock, and that where they are 

 well known there is a strong demand for 

 them. The Forest Service is eft'ecting de- 

 sirable economy by disposing of ti.iS dead 

 material for ties before it becomes useless 

 from other reasons, thus conserving that 

 much green timber for future supply. 



The Southern Pacific railroad has imported 

 1,500,000 oak ties from Japan of late, to be 

 used mainly on its California Unes. Not 

 only the fact that the supply of timber for 

 this purpose is so limited has caused the road 

 to seek ties from the Oi'ient. but the shortage 



of cars is so great that none are avaUable 

 for transporting them from the East, and 

 furthermore the company's big steamships 

 plying between San I'rancisco and Japan can 

 carry the timber at very little expense. It is 

 claimed the oak ties so far imported have 

 cost the Southern Pacific, including duty, 

 less than soft redwood ties of smaller dimen- 

 sions. California electric lines have pur- 

 chased 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 Louisville & 

 Nashville is foremost. Beginning in 1904 

 with ten medium-sized groves, it has in- 

 creased its holdings until in 1905-6, 400,000 

 trees were planted. Along its right of way 

 between Carmi, 111., and St. Louis, Mo., the 

 company is making a forestry test to de- 

 termine the advisability of growing catalpa 

 for ties. An extensive plantation has been 

 made, and the development of the catalpa 

 trees will be carefully watched. They are 

 set about eighteen feet apart and will be 

 given careful attention all along the line. 

 This company has great faith in the advan- 

 tages of catalpa for ties, since the wood is 

 extremely lasting, holds spikes well, and is 

 not decayed by corrosion where metal comes 

 in contact with it. A catalpa tie will last 

 twenty years, and it requires only that 

 length of time to mature a tree for commer- 

 cial use. The L. & N. also has a plantation 

 near Pensacola, Fla., one at Newjwrt, Ky., 

 and several in southern Illinois. The Illinois 

 Central, Big Four and Southern Pacific roads 

 also have several of the kind. 



The Santa Fe is entering upon the culture 

 of eucalyptus for its own use on a large 

 scale. It has bought a ranch containing 

 8,650 acres, of which 300 have already been 

 planted with eucalyptus. It is the intention 

 to plant 700 acres a year for ten years, with 

 varieties suitable for railroad use. The com- 

 pany estimates that allowing ten per cent 

 for failures, 500 trees wUl be obtained per 

 acre, and that after fifteen to eighteen years, 

 six to eight ties may be obtained from each 

 tree. The Southern Pacific is said to be con- 

 sidering the matter of establishing a similar 

 eucalyptus plantation. 



The Canadian Pacific has commenced tree 

 planting extensively along its western lines. 

 Near the town of Wolseley, Assiniboia, it 

 is the intention to conduct experiments in 

 growing tamarack for ties, and at Medicine 

 Hat, jack pine and tamarack will be planted. 

 The Pennsylvania system last year used 

 5,12.5,000 cross-ties. This year it is planting 

 550,000 trees in its prospective forests, 

 bringing the total up to 2,250,000 now being 

 grown on 1,000 acres. It has selected catal- 

 pa, locust and oak as most desirable. The 



