OF FARM TIMBERS 



treatment will in most cases add sufficiently to the durability 

 to fully justify the expense, though it is not so highly recom- 

 mended as the open tank method. 



The Brush Treatment or Painting Method consists in L 

 applying two liberal coats of hot preservative to the wood. 

 The oil should be heated to about 200 degrees Fahrenheit 

 and flooded over the wood rather than painted upon it. Es- 

 pecial care should be taken to fill every check and defect in 

 the wood, and the first coat should be allowed to dry com- 

 pletely before the second coat is applied. Only thoroughly 

 seasoned timber should be treated. This treatment is even 

 less effective than dipping, but will retard decay long enough 

 to pay for itself. In all cases the timber should be so han- 

 dled after treatment that the treated wood will not be 

 scraped off, exposing an untreated surface. Where such 

 accidents happen, the scraped surface should be painted with 

 creosote before the timber is used. 



KINDS OF TIMBER SUITABLE FOR TREATMENT. 



Almost any kind of non-durable wood will be benefited 

 by treatment. The species most suitable, however, are those 

 which treat most readily, especially the sapwood. The heart- 

 wood in few will absorb much oil, but it is not usually neces- 

 sary because it is itself durable. In the treatable class are the 

 pines, Douglas fir, tamarack, western larch, red oaks, pin 

 oak, beech, elm, gum, red maple, sycamore, tulip, and a num- 

 ber of others. Such woods as locust, catalpa, western juniper, 

 redwood, cypress and cedar are very durable without treat- 

 ment and the use of creosote is not justified. The sapwood 

 of most of these species, however, is not durable, and posts 

 or lumber which consists mostly of sapwood should, there- 

 fore, be treated. 



SITUATIONS IN WHICH TREATMENT IS 

 DESIRABLE. 



The treatment of fence posts is quite general, but there 

 are many other forms of timber used on the farm, to which 

 treatment can be advantageously applied, such as sills and 

 foundation timbers, bridge timbers, board walks, wooden 

 gates, windmill frames, floors of stalls and passage ways for 

 stock, together with joists and framing under such floors. 

 Timber in contact with concrete, as on foundation walls, is 

 likely to decay and should be treated. It is often recom- 



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