358 



Canadian Forestry Journal, July, i()20. 



Timber Treatment 



(By 3- M. Winegar 

 Assistant General Tie Agent, C. P. R. 



It is now generally recognized that 

 the forests of this continent are not in- 

 exhaustible. Intensive studies made 

 durinff the last five years of the stands 

 in the east have revealed that conser- 

 vation must be practised to insure a 

 continued supply , of forest products. 



Planted forests in eastern Canada 

 v^rill meet but a small percentage of 

 future demands. Natural reproduc- 

 tion must provide our future forests. 

 Fire protection, which is yearly l)ecom- 

 ing more efficient, has in view the care 

 of the young growth as well as the 

 matured timber. 



In two other ways can the drain on 

 the forests be relieved ; first in the 

 use of substitutes, which although de- 

 cidedly on the increase, have had little 

 appreciable effect on timber demand 

 and prices ; and. second, a resonable 

 and scientific handling of those pro- 

 ducts which are so vital. In the case 

 of the railway tie : timber will always 

 be a necessity. We must have wood ; 

 traffic conditions, which are becoming 

 more severe as the weight of operating 

 equipment increases, allows of no sub- 

 stitute. 



Timber, though having many^'irtues, 

 is a decidedly perishable product, 

 especially under conditions in which 

 ties are placed. Contact with the 

 ground hastens decay very rapidly. 

 This decay of wood is caused Iw par- 

 asitic growth of a number of varieties 

 of fungi. In securing nourishment the 

 fungi destroys the wood upon which 

 they feed. The destroying elements 

 are the roots or filaments which enter 

 the walls of the cells and break them 

 down and then work through the 

 timber. The growth of fungi requires 

 air, moisture, food material and a 

 favorable temperature. An antiseptic 

 is necessary to poison the wood-de- 

 stroying fungi, as the other conditions 

 cannot be modified or controlled. 



Superficial treatment only is necessary 

 in a great many cases, but where sub- 

 sequent ru])tures expose th(- unprotect- 

 ed surfcice such as occur in ties caused 

 by Ail)ration, heaving of track, etCr 

 that is. l)y mechanical o])eration on the 

 timl)cr, the tre;itment must Ijc forced 

 into the wood. Penetration to be ef- 

 fective should be reasonably deep and 

 uniform. 



l^iml^er treatment not only increases 

 the life of those species which have 

 l)een used for ties, but it also makes 

 accessil:)le large 1)0(lies of timber other- 

 wise considered unfit for this particular 

 use. We have draw'n heavily on the 

 soft \vood forests such as Jack Pine, 

 Hemlock and Tamarack. The hard- 

 woods: ash, beech, birch, maple, elm 

 and poplar, with treatment, will now 

 render satisfactory service. Formerly 

 these latter species were not consider- 

 ed as tie material. 



Several systems of tie treatment are 

 used in Can.nda and the United States 

 to-day. Their use largely depends on 

 the weather conditions imder which 

 ties are to l)e laid for service. Creasote- 

 oils are now generally considered the 

 most efficient material for timber 

 treatment. They have great value as 

 a germicide, are waterproof, reasonably 

 cheap, and can 1)e obtained readily and' 

 in large c|uantities. They are used 

 straight or in mixture with some of the 

 mineral salts. 



Zinc chloride. Sodium flouride and 

 ^lercuric chloride, effective germicides, 

 have a high value as preservatives, but 

 on account of bleaching their use alone 

 is generally restricted to climates 

 where there is a precipitation of 20" or 

 less. The "Card." "Allerdyce" and' 

 "Wellhouse" processes, which inject a 

 relatively small percentage of oil as- 

 filler — use mineral salts as the germi- 

 cide ; their aim is to make timber so- 

 treated as effective as that treated with? 



