TIMBER OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA si 



imported also in planks of various lengths and thicknesses, 

 usually rather short lengths, and the timber is imported 

 practically free from sap, which is a great advantage, and 

 perfectly square. The writer recently saw a log 50 ft. 

 long and 2-4 inches square absolutely free from sap. Some 

 of the logs open out a good deal after lying in the sun, 

 being much more liable to this defect than pitch pine or 

 Baltic. It is a quick-growing tree. Many of the Douglas 

 firs planted in Great Britain about 1834 have attained a 

 height of 100 ft., and it has been known to grow to a 

 height of 76 ft. in twenty-two years. The flag-pole at 

 Kew, which many will remember, was a Douglas fir stick, 

 159 ft. long, 6 ft. 6 inches in circumference at the base, 

 tapering to 2 ft. at the top. 



The Atchison and Santa Fe Railway Company use a 

 great quantity of Douglas fir timber, and Mr. E. 0. Faulkner, 

 the manager of the tie and timber department, in replying 

 to the author's inquiry as to the difficulty of creosoting this 

 timber, says, " We have found it next to impossible to treat 

 Douglas fir satisfactorily after it has been seasoned, and for 

 this reason we have adopted the treatment of it w r hile it is 

 still green, or just after it has been taken out of the water, 

 when it has been floated, which in either case will give the 

 same result. This water or sap is then removed by the 

 boiling process, which is described in the enclosed specifica- 

 tion, and we find no difficulty in getting 10 to 16 Ibs. per 

 cubic foot into the wood, the quantity of oil varying entirely 

 with the time used in the boiling." J 



1 It should be noted, however, that in America the timber is gene- 

 rally treated in the round log, which contains a much larger proportion 

 of sap than the squared timber sent to the English market, and so will 

 more readily take in creosote; but Mr. David Allerton, of the American 

 Creosoting Company, has by a different treatment to Mr. Faulkner's 

 got 10 to 12 Ibs. of oil per cubic foot into square timber. 



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