

canoeist below Mankato, and the people along that stream do 

 not realize the value of their waterway. In the whole length 

 traversed by our party, counting towns and villages, only ten 

 or a dozen boats were seen, and these were mostly rowboats 

 of home manufacture. These people should be taught to real- 

 ize the beauties at their very doorstep and use them for their 

 own pleasure and profit. 



Shortage of Imported Wood Preservative Stimulates Domestic 

 Production Tie Plants Largest Consumers. 



OWING to a falling off since August 1 of nearly 30 per cent 

 in shipments of creosote from England and Germany, 

 whence comes all but a small part of the imported oil 

 used by wood-preserving plants in this country, American 

 manufacturers have taken steps which, says a report com- 

 piled by the forest service, it is estimated will increase pro- 

 duction of the domestic article by about 25 per cent. The im- 

 ported oil ordinarily forms about 65 per cent of the total used 

 in the United States, where creosote is the most important 

 wood preservative. 



The statistics gathered show that wood preserving is one of 

 the most rapidly advancing industries in the country. In 

 1895 there were fifteen plants in the United States; in 1914 

 there were 122 plants of all kinds, 100 being of the pressure- 

 cylinder type. Ninety-four of these plants last year used more 

 than 79 million gallons of creosote oil, more than 27 million 

 pounds of dry zinc chloride, and nearly 2% million gallons qf 

 other preservatives, such as coal tar and crude oil, treating a 

 total of nearly 160 million cubic feet of timber, an increase of 

 about seven million cubic feet over 1913, and of 35 million 

 cubic feet over 1912. 



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