WOOD VERSUS SOME OF ITS SUBSTITUTES 



245 



GROVE OF HARDY CATALPA ON PLACE OF MRS. F. W. KRUCKMAN, 14 YEARS FROM SEED. WEBSTER Co., IOWA. 



FENCE POSTS CAN STILL BE GROWN AT AN ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE AND WITH DECAY-RESISTING MATERIAL ARE CHEAPER 



AND EASIER TO HANDLE THAN ANY SUBSTITUTE. 



rough material in any other form. The 

 introduction of various metal substi- 

 tutes for lath threatens to restrict the 

 market for the wood product, causing a 

 waste of raw material at the mill. 



Another field in which wood formerly 

 reigned supreme but which is now 

 gradually being usurped by substitutes 

 is that of fence posts. It is almost 

 universally recognized that the wood 

 fence post is the most satisfactory form 

 of fence support, because of the ease 

 with which it can be placed in position, 

 and the fence material attached to it, 

 and the facility with which fence repairs 

 may be made. The comparatively 

 short life of posts made from some spe- 

 cies of trees, and the increasing cost of 

 posts made from the more desirable 

 species has led to the introduction . of 

 substitutes both of concrete and of steel. 

 The greatest market for the substitutes 

 has been and probably will continue to 

 be in the great agricultural section of 

 the Middle West which is largely devoid 

 of forest areas from which fence posts 



may be secured in large quantities. 

 The high cost of wooden posts shipped 

 into the region from distant points 

 makes the prairie States a lucrative 

 field for the concrete or metal posts. 

 The concrete post is probably the more 

 popular with agriculturists since it can 

 be made on the farm at a reasonable 

 cost. It is believed, however, that the 

 future development of farm forestry 

 will increase the consumption of wooden 

 posts since each farmer may devote a 

 limited area to the production of such 

 fence posts as he requires from fast grow- 

 ing species which are capable of treat- 

 ment with chemical preservatives at a 

 reasonable cost. 



For a great many years millions of 

 feet of lumber were annually consumed 

 in the construction and repair of side- 

 walks in the smaller cities and in the 

 villages of the country. The first com- 

 petitor of wood for walks was the brick, 

 which made a more durable structure, 

 but which had many unsatisfactory 

 features after it had been laid for some 



