THE NEW FORESTRY. 1 95 



costs nearly twice that sum. A fair-sized creosoting boiler 

 costs from 150 to 200 exclusive of fixing, the oil costs from 

 4d. to 5d. per gallon, and about one-and-a-half gallons are 

 required to soak one cubic foot of timber. Spruce and Scotch 

 fir ought to be chiefly used for creosoting, as they are worth 

 least to the owner, and save the use of larch and oak. 



The following abridged extract from the " Land Agent's 

 Record," April 7th, 1900, refers to an estate where an exten- 

 sive creosoting apparatus is in operation: "Since 1895 we 

 have used scarcely any fencing but creosoted home-grown 

 spruce, Scotch and silver fir for fencing purposes, and find 

 that the spruce posts put down in 1895 are to-day apparently 

 as sound as ever. The posts are bored and morticed, and 

 all the bark (if any) removed, and then piled up to dry for 

 some time before creosoting. We generally give them about 

 three hours at a pressure of from 60 to 70 Ibs. per square inch, 

 and find that as a rule is enough. But, of course, the drier 

 the timber the more oil it absorbs, and the larger the posts, 

 etc., are, the longer pressure they require. When practicable, 

 rails, pales, boards, etc., are done by themselves, and fence 

 posts, etc., and similar sized pieces likewise. The cost of 

 creosoting depends chiefly on two things, viz., the price of the 

 oil and the amount injected per foot At present I am getting 

 a good oil, 1040 specific gravity, delivered at our nearest 

 station, at 4*/d. per gallon. To cart and empty forty casks 

 (two trucks) and return the empties takes an engine and 

 three men two days, loading back the second day with coals. 

 As to the cost, the following are the results of some tests 

 made in 1899: Thirty-nine posts (morticed for four rails), 

 6^ ft long x 6 in. x 4^ in., weighed 35 ^ Ibs. each before 

 creosoting, and 48^ Ibs. after that is, i3 T 3 o Ibs., or T28 

 gallons of oil per post, was used. This would be at the rate 

 of about 5^d. each. The posts were naturally dried and 

 were subjected to a pressure of 65 to 70 Ibs. for 3^ hours. 

 One hundred and twenty Scotch, silver, and spruce rails, 8 ft 

 long x 4 in. x 2 in., absorbed 5 Ibs., or y 2 gallon each, costing 

 2^d. per rail. Generally we use I to i^ gallons of oil per 

 cubic foot, and creosote gates, hurdles, scantlings, posts of 

 all sizes, rails, pales, boards, etc. in fact, anything that will 

 go into the cylinder. The cylinder is 25^ ft long, the 

 diameter of doorways is 6 ft, and of the main portion 7 ft. 

 It is made of mild steel and steam jacketed, and costs about 

 200." 



