938 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



road pavement. It follows, therefore, that creosoted 

 longleaf pine blocks are being advocated and used, 

 thereby stimulating local industries, and at the same time 

 giving the best possible service. 



EVERY progressive farmer has or needs a silo. 

 This has been so evident and the developments 

 so rapid that the prospective buyer is confused by 

 the claims of silo manufacturers representing many ma- 

 terials. While brick, tile, cement and even galvanized 

 iron have been used, unbiased opinions hold that the 

 wooden silo is by far the best. To overcome any possible 

 objections to wooden silos on account of decay or shrink- 

 age the Acme Tie Co., of Reed City, Mich., has during 

 the past year put on the market what is known as the 

 "Acme Creosoted Stave Silos." The staves are given an 

 empty cell rueping treatment of six pounds of coal tar 

 creosote per cubic foot. They come out of the cylinders 

 thoroughly impregnated, yet with no surface oil to con- 

 taminate the silage or make the erection work objection- 

 able. The completed creosoted silo is rendered entirely 

 immune from decay, checking and shrinking, and the ne- 

 cessity of repeated painting is removed since the creosote 

 is permanent. 



The question of whether the creosote will taint the 

 silage is covered by statements and experiments by vari- 



ous agricultural colleges and individuals. Prof. F. M. 

 White, of the University of Wisconsin, states that "Staves 

 of any material should either be painted or creosoted. 

 ... If used on staves the staves should be soaked in 

 the creosote rather than painted, although painting is of 

 some value. There will be some odor of the creosote in 

 the silage, but the cattle will soon become accustomed to 

 the smell and no harmful effects follow." A practical 

 farmer in Iowa states that "I have four silos, one is 

 creosoted, have fed from them two years, and will posi- 

 tively say that the ensilage in the creosoted silo is as 

 sweet and nice around the walls as in the others, no 

 effect of the creosote whatever; have never tightened the 

 hoops on the creosoted silo and it has been in use two 

 vears. I will recommend them highly." Another farmer 

 who has used a creosoted silo for five years reports 

 that, "The silage is not tainted by the creosote, at least 

 not to any extent. The stock relish it, it seems to me." 



An important point in connection with what is bound 

 to be substantial developments in the use of creosoted 

 silo staves is that a superficial treatment by painting or 

 dipping does not give the- same satisfactory results as 

 pressure treatment by an empty cell process. In the 

 former case there is much more likelihood of free surface 

 oil and contamination. 



Woodlot Values Worth Investigating 



THE marketing of farm timber presents some of 

 the same diificulties, but in an aggravated form, 

 that the farmer meets in selling other crops, says 

 a Forest Service contribution to the Year Book of the 

 Department of Agriculture, just issued. The farmer 

 finds it hard to get enough for his timber. Most farmers 

 now sell their saw timber on the stump to a mill man, 

 such sales ordinarily being made for a lump sum. The 

 mill man, experienced in estimating, goes through the 

 woods and sizes up the quantity and value of the timber 

 he wants. The owner, being a farmer and not a lum- 

 berman, seldom knows anything about estimating timber 

 and has only the vaguest idea of what it ought to bring. 

 The consequence of this condition is ,that the farmer 

 often receives only a small fraction of the actual market 

 value of his stumpage. 



Astonishing examjjles of what a farmer may thus 

 throw away are often encountered by foresters, continues 

 the article. For instance, a Massachusetts farmer sold a 

 million feet of timber to a portable sawmill man for 

 $1,200. and thought he had obtained a good price. His 

 neighbor, however, who knew something about timber, 

 got $7,000 for the same quantity of white pine from the 

 very same portable mill man. The first farmer, on 

 account of his ignorance, practically presented the mill 

 man with $5,800 ; the second owner was wise enough to 



learn before he attempted to sell his timber how much 

 he had and what it ought to bring him in money. 



The productive capacity of the 200 million acres of 

 farm lands throughout the country which either have or 

 h,hould have timber growing on them is enormous, says 

 the article. This area is larger than all the national 

 forests put together, and with an annual growth of 200 

 board feet per acre of saw timber a moderate allowance 

 under the practice of forestry it would produce an- 

 nually forever about 40 billion feet, or the equivalent of 

 the entire lumber cut of the country, in addition to not 

 less than 120 million cords of firewood. 



These figures, continues the article, probably never 

 will be realized, for the reason that the present area of 

 farm woodlands is much greater than it will be eventu- 

 ally. For example, woodland comprises 31 per cent of 

 the entire farm area of the South, and undoubtedly much 

 of this land will be put to other uses than timber grow- 

 ing. Nevertheless, the farmers of the United States 

 now own at least 250 billion feet of saw timber and 1 1/3 

 billion cords of cordwood, and this timber should pro- 

 duce a substantial part of their incomes. Farmers ought 

 to make the most of their timber, and the public should 

 be interested in this question for the reason that the vast 

 aggregate of farm timber should be available to supple- 

 ment the other sources of the general supply. 



