10 OUR VANISHING FORESTS 



tion has taught railroad men how to get almost as 

 good service out of cheaper wood properly treated 

 and preserved, and accordingly southern pine now 

 plays an important part, while Douglas fir and a 

 dozen or more other species are used to suit various 

 localities and conditions. The process of treating 

 ties has been very widely standardized, the method 

 employed being to place the prepared and seasoned 

 wood in huge cylinders and there subject it at high 

 pressure to creosote or some other preserving solu- 

 tion. Such treating cylinders now form part of the 

 equipment of every important railway system, and 

 creosoted ties may be seen under almost any track. 

 Someone has said that the greatest railroad tie 

 expert is the hobo. He gradually learns to accom- 

 modate his stride to that peculiar length necessary 

 for smooth progress along the right of way, and, if 

 he cannot tell the difference between oak and chest- 

 nut, his weary feet can at least attest to a variation 

 of surface. He thus stumbles literally upon the 

 cause of a long standing controversy. If you care- 

 fully observe the ties under almost any important 

 piece of track you notice that, while many of them 

 may show a smooth flat surface, the majority bear 

 the marks of having been hewn or flattened very 

 Irregularly. The former have been sawn by 

 machinery, the latter have been hewn out by hand 



