THE CREOSOTING OF HOME-GROWN TIMBER. 61 
The timber was all winter-felled. After sawing, it was well 
seasoned in the open air, in a draughty place and protected 
from rain, for at least six months—some of it longer. The size 
of the trees from which it was cut varied very much; but, when 
trees of that size were available, the samples were taken from 
stems of not less than 12 ins. diameter. When the trees were 
sufficiently large, they were first sawn into scantlings, 7 feet 
long and 44 ins. by 44 ins. in cross section. Then, when the 
pieces had become fairly dry, they were reduced to 6 feet by 
34 ins. by 34 ins., and were again piled in the open air, ina 
very draughty place, for about a month longer. That the spruce 
posts absorbed more creosote than those of Scots pine may 
perhaps be accounted for by the fact that the latter were sawn 
out of old, well-hearted park trees, grown in the open, and 
they therefore absorbed much less oil per cubic foot than they 
would have done had they been made from younger trees 
with less heart-wood. Scots pine certainly does, as a rule, 
absorb more creosote than spruce, and the present results 
must be regarded as exceptional. No note was made of the 
proportion of heart-wood to sap-wood in the various specimens ; 
but this is no doubt an important factor influencing the amount 
of creosote absorbed by each. All the specimens were treated 
at one time, special precautions having been taken to secure 
correct identification after creosoting, and to ensure correct 
weighment both before and after the operation. 
[It is hoped that information may hereafter become available 
in regard to the extent to which each species of timber was 
penetrated by the oil—Hon. Ep. | 
