100 EECOED OF HORTICULTURE. 



Chestnut stakes will last for a long time ; but the wood 

 is very coarse grained, and it is difficult to make it suffi- 

 ciently smooth for writing upon w4th a pencil; besides, 

 paint will not adhere to it for any considerable time when 

 exposed to the w^eather. The light, soft kinds of wood, 

 such as w^hite pine, white-w^ood, bass-wood, etc., may be 

 used for stakes, if they are previously steeped in some one 

 of the wood-preserving liquids. Coal-tar is an excellent 

 preservative, but it should be applied when hot to that 

 portion of the stake which is to be buried in the soil — the 

 upper portion may be painted or soaked in oil. 



Kyanizing the wood which is to be used for stakes is a 

 simple process for making it almost indestructible. We 

 have seen common white pine stakes one inch and a half 

 in diameter that had been prepared by this process, and 

 after behig exposed to the weather fourteen years, they 

 had not decayed to the depth of one fourth of an inch. 

 These stakes were prepared by soaking them for two or 

 three days in a solution composed of one pound of corro- 

 sive sublimate and twenty quarts of water. 



Kyanizing is derived from Kyan, the inventor of this 

 process of j^reserving wood, but of late it has been rather 

 loosely applied to other methods. 



Chloride of zinc, blue vitriol, and other similar sub- 

 stances, are also used for preserving timber. 



"Whenever it is desirable not to place the name of the 

 Ijlant upon the label, figures or other characters may be 

 used, and the names be recorded in a book. The Roman 

 numerals are often employed, and these are cut on the 

 label thus : I., II., III., IV., etc , or any number required — 



