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waste now resulting from tlie inefficient selection iiud utilization of 

 material. 



The FrcHcrvdtivc Treatment of Wood 



This is a large field of conservation possil)ilities. To date the 

 lahoratory's work has heen directed mainly to determining the pene- 

 trability of different species with available commercial preservatives 

 and to developing more efficient })rocesses of treating wood to ])rotect 

 it against decay. Recent estimates show that the annual loss due to 

 decay in varied forms of structural timbers, such as railroad ties, mine 

 timbers, piling, bridge timbers, posts, poles, etc., amounts to as much 

 material as is annually lost by forest fires. Wood preservation has 

 been demonstrated as commercially profitable, but its practice is not 

 as general as it should be, and preservative methods are still susceptible 

 to much improvement. 



The laboratory has also done a limited amount of work on the 

 problem of fire-proofing wood, but has not had the facilities nor the 

 organization to carry it to the point of success. Of the annual fire 

 loss in this country a great deal could be prevented ])y the develo])- 

 ment of more effective and cheaper methods of fire-proofing wood. 

 Research in this field is necessarily expensive, but the possil)ilities of 

 saving both timber and property are so great and important that work 

 of this character should not be long post])oned. 



Great quantities of mine timbers are destroyed annually by decay 

 because they are not given preservative treatment. The amount of 

 timber used in the mines throughout the country is staggering, and the 

 laboratory should have men in the field most of the time conferring 

 with mine officials, demonstrating the value of wood ])reservatives and 

 promoting their use. ^Nluch of the necessary ex])erimental work on 

 the treatment of mine tim])er has been done, and its value has been 

 conclusively proved, but the laboratory lias not the organization to 

 carry its information to the mine and demonstrate its application 

 and use. 



Similarly, great quantities of timber used as piling in salt water 

 are destroyed annually l)y marine borers. Incidents may be cited 

 where large docks and over-water ])uildings erected at great expense 

 have been undermined and practically destroyed within a year or two 



