THE PRESERVATIVE TREATMENT 



the parts subject to decay or where non-durable woods are 

 used, are properly treated. It remains for the average farm 

 owner to acquaint himself with the preservatives and meth- 

 ods of treatment which from years of long experience have 

 been found to be most successful. The treatment of timber 

 is not experimental, but a thoroughly established practice. 



The use of preservatives on the farm has in the past 

 been confined largely to fence post treatment. The same 

 excellent results, however, may be obtained from many 

 other classes of material, the advantages in some cases be- 

 ing even greater with the sills and frames of barns and dairy 

 houses, swine houses, and other structures where the cost 

 and difficulty of replacement is greater than with fence 

 posts. It has been so clearly demonstrated that wood can 

 be made to resist decay indefinitely at reasonable cost, that 

 the application of this knowledge will be of great value to 

 all consumers of lumber for home building purposes. 



It is advantageous for the farm owner and the local 

 lumber dealer to work together in developing the use of 

 treated timber. The dealer in most localities is in a position 

 to sell wood preservatives in gallon, half barrel, or barrel 

 quantities, and in some cases may treat timber for local farm 

 use in an open tank in his own yard. He may also find 

 it advantageous to carry a stock of brush treated or open 

 tank treated lumber, small timbers and fence posts, since 

 he could do the work more economically than the individual 

 farmer. This practice would also permit the local dealer to 

 purchase and sell local fence post timber, such as cotton- 

 wood and soft maple, which without treatment would not 

 be durable. A further basis of mutual help is the advice 

 which the dealer can give as to the kinds of wood to be 

 used, and the methods of treatment. By carefully select- 

 ing the kind and grade of timber for the particular use it is 

 often possible to utilize the lower grades, or non-durable 

 lumber which would not commonly be used without pre- 

 servative treatment, except where not exposed to decay. 



Another possibility is the community or cooperative 

 open tank treating plant, several farmers, for example, bear- 

 ing the expense of a plant and perhaps purchasing their lum- 

 ber or posts in quantities, and treating them at a central 

 point. This permits the erection and use of a larger and more 

 expensive plant than would be advisable for the individual 

 farmer, and has the further advantage of buying the pre- 

 servative in larger quantities. Here again the local dealer 



Four 



