28 PRACTICAL TREE REPAIR 



carbolineum, which is also a coal tar product, 

 distilled off at a higher temperature. Creosote 

 comes in several consistencies, the heaviest of them 

 requiring heating. A so-called creosote is made 

 from the tar which is a by-product of the manu- 

 facture of water-gas from petroleum, but it has no 

 antiseptic value. In buying creosote demand a 

 guarantee that it is distilled from coal tar. Two 

 safe brands, besides carbolineum, are the " Let- 

 teney " wood preservative, sold by the Northeast- 

 ern Company of Boston, and the " C. & A." creo- 

 sote. Carbolineum has been the center of much 

 controversy. Some observers claim it never hurts 

 the bark or living tissue of the trunk, while others 

 can prove that trees have been killed by it. Until 

 it is determined under what conditions it is safe, 

 the manufacturers warn against the application of 

 carbolineum to the bark or to the sapwood close 

 to the bark. To large surfaces it can of course 

 be applied without danger, and for such purposes 

 it has great value, as it penetrates very deep, espe- 

 cially if it is heated. 



Creosote and carbolineum, both of which, by the 

 way, are commonly carried by paint dealers and 

 cost from sixty-five cents to a dollar or so a gallon, 

 do not actually fill the wood in the sense that 

 paints do, but they make the wood impervious to 

 water and immune from the attacks of insects. 

 The reason why they cannot be considered as com- 



