1^37] 



FAR M E R S" REGISTER. 



245 



li:i'.vcvcr, thinlcs thiit while*, tiinljcrs of lartje Bcant- 

 iiriL' may be ii«eil the pooiipr li)!- it, siii! it would not 

 p;ipi'r^f>(|p. the u?un\ lenj^lli of time I'ur seasoninir 

 woivi for joiners' work. 



"It. n-as staft'd by Mr. Kyan tliat the solution 

 lost^s none of ]!.« strenirtli, and bpcomes in no way 

 iili.M-ed by the immersion ol' tlie limber; and the 

 pn'aicr pari of the solution in the tank, at the tinrie 

 ol'rhe coamiissioners' visit to Mr. Ivyan's premises, 

 was stated to ha\"e been in use some years. 



"Two bottles oft he sohition, used lor experiment, 

 were sent to Professor Faraday, one havinir been 

 filled belbre the immersion of the timber, and the 

 other afterwards: ami he has stated that they con- 

 tain the same proportions of corrosive subhmate in 

 solution. 



"As to the salubrity of the process, the evidence 

 proves it to have produced no ill effect upon the 

 health of the workmen, who have used the pre- 

 pared timber lor ship-huildinfj or other purposes. 

 It, however, appeiirs that trrear caution is requi- 

 Bite in preparing the solution, and in the use of the 

 process." 



The only doubt, thrown upon the efncacy of the 

 process is, with reo-ard to the "interior effect" it 

 may produce upon larue timber, on which point 

 the commissioners are "not agreed;" the extent to 

 which the mercury penetrates the timber belno^ 

 "very limited." But, this "interior effect," it ap- 

 pears to me, is fully settled by experiment. 



It IS now ten years since the orifrin of this dis- 

 covery, during which time experiments have been 

 made in every possible way— ^in the rotten pit — ! 

 under dripping eaves— in the confined holds of 

 ships — and in the open air; and in every instance 

 the prepared timber has remained perfectly sound, 

 while the unprepared has "decayed and become 

 rotten throughout." 



On the point of expense, 1 !b. of corrosive sub- 

 limate is the proportion lor 5 gallons of water, 

 (.some say 1 lb. to 10 gallons) and one cubic foot 

 of oak timber absorbs 3 pints of the liquid. The 

 price of corrosive sublimate beinir 86 cents per lb. 

 the material lor one cubic foot of timber will cost 

 6| cents. 



The expense of preparing the limber for one 

 mile of rail road, on the plan of 'the Petersburg 

 and Roanoke road, would be as follows: 

 3. .500 cubic feet of railing, at 6| cents, .§227 50 

 6,000 do. sillsandkeys, attJicents, 390 GO 



2 tanks per mile - - - - - 70 00 

 Labor do. - - - - - 75 00 



Total S762 50 



It should be borne in mind, however, that any 

 kind of timber may be preserved by this process. 

 Therefore, any timber found along the line, pos- 

 sessing the requisite degree of sirength and stiff- 

 ness, may be used for the road. On this account 

 a saving may be effected in general of about $'150 

 per mile. 



The prepared timber may also be used to ad- 

 vantage in the construction of all the small drains 

 under the road, by which means a saving may be 

 frequently made of from three to five hundred dol- 

 lars per mile. So that, upon the whole, the actual 

 extra cost of the prepared timber may not exceed 

 8250 per mile. 



Upon the Ralegh and Gaston, and the Greens- 

 ville and Roanoke Rail Roads, this would be a fair 



estimate. With regard to the cost of repairs on 

 account of rot upon a rail road, experience has 

 laiight UP, that the second year after the timbers 

 have been laid down, the evil from this source will 

 have progressed to a decree which will render it 

 necessary to replace many of the rails with sound 

 ones; that in about three or four years the sills 

 also will beo'jn to decay; and that from that time 

 forward, ihe expense of repairs from this cause 

 will amount to about ^400 per mile. Itr addition 

 to thi.«, the accidents and delaj's occasioned by 

 the perishable nature of these materials, are seri- 

 ous evils both to the rail road company and to the 

 public, and every possible means should be taken 

 to prevent their occurrence. 



It appears then, from the above, that the actual 

 cost of^|)reparing the timber for a rail road will not, 

 in general, exceed ^250 per mile, It appears also, 

 that the annual expense of refiairs to a road, occa- 

 sioned by rot. is about i§400 per mile. 



Ilow valuable then is this discovery? For a sum 

 exceeding but a little one half the cost of the re- 

 pairs of a road (or one year, the limber used in its 

 construction may be preserved for many years — 

 and, for aught we know, be made as durable as 

 iron. 



It may be proper to say something here, in re- 

 lation to the time which would be occupied in pre- 

 paring the timber for a rail road by this process. 

 With two tanks to a mile, 5 b}' 6 feet and 25 feet 

 long — upon whic'h supposi'ioii I have founded my 

 estimate — all the timber necessary lor a single 

 track could be effectually prepared in about fifteen 

 weeks. On this score, therefore, there would be 

 no impediment to the work. 



It is hoped that rail road companies will no 

 longer hesitate to adopt this method of preserving 

 the timber for their roads. The experiment, at 

 least, should be tried by every one interested in 

 the subject. So far as my humble opinion is con- 

 cerned, I think, with Dr. Faraday, "the improve- 

 ment so great, as ILilly to jusiily its extensive ap-- 

 plication." 



G. M. TOTTEW. 



Fioin tlie New England Farmer, 

 SUGAR FROM JKDIAIT CORN. 



It is said that the Revolutionary heroes used to 

 sweeten their switchel with corn stalk molasses, 

 and perhaps their children may be benefitted by a 

 knowledge of the fiict that both sugar and molas- 

 ses can still be obtained from that plant. How 

 profitable the manuliicture of it may be, we can- 

 not say, as we believe no experiments have ever 

 been tried to test the fact, at least in Maine. 

 Some experiments were once tried in the south of 

 France, in order to ascertain the quantity which 

 could be obtauied, and the following were the re- 

 sults : 



1. The stalk of the corn contains little or no su- 

 gar previous to flowering. 



2. At the time of flowering a small quantity of 

 sugar may be detected. 



3. When the ifrain is still sofT,the stalk contains 

 about one part in a hundred of chrystallizable su- 

 gar. 



4. When the grain is completely ripe, the stalk 

 contains two parts in the hundred of sugar, and 

 four parts in the hundred of rich and good tasted 

 molasses." 



