62 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
13. The Creosoting of Timber by Absorption. 
(With Plate.) 
By J. BALDEN, Bywell Office, Stocksfield-on-Tyne. 
As the members of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society 
who visited Dilston on znd August were not able to see the 
process carried on there for creosoting estate-timber in operation, 
the following notes may be of interest. 
The creosoting-tank measures 16 ft. by 4 ft. by 4 ft. It is 
made of ,°, in. boiler-plates, is fitted with 14 in. cock for 
emptying, and has an iron stay across the top at the middle of 
the tank. Two iron bars, 1 in. square, with the ends turned to 
clasp the top flange, are fixed across the tank, and when it is 
filled with timber, wedges are fixed underneath these bars to 
prevent the timber from floating. 
The reader will observe in Photograph No. 1 a simple 
appliance for the purpose of easily filling the tank with creosote. 
It consists of a stout larch pole, set 3 feet into the ground, and 
stayed on cross sleepers. The hoist consists of part of a gate, 
hung on crooks, and it carries a small check pulley by which the 
barrels are lifted above the tank for filling it, or, by swinging the 
hoist round, for removing them as they are filled during the 
emptying of the tank. The tank is portable. When it is in use 
the wheels are removed, and it is fixed solid on the ground, the 
wheels being utilised for the bogie. Corrugated sheets are used 
to cover the tank when it is full, in order to throw off rain. 
The creosote used is of the following specification :—Specific 
gravity, 10°6 lbs. per gallon; boiling point, 428° Fahr.; entirely 
liquid at 103°. There is no deposit on cooling to go°; at 60° 
there is a deposit of from 25 to 30 per cent. of naphthaline, and 
it is guaranteed to contain 5 per cent. of tar acids. The price 
at present is about 3d. per gallon. 
This appliance is used for creosoting Scots pine posts and 
rails, farm building roofing-timbers, sleepers, etc. No heating is 
required. The drier the wood the more creosote will it absorb. 
Six weeks’ drying in summer is sufficient. When well dried, posts 
and rails will absorb on an average about ? gallon per cubic 
foot. 
