575 



THE PROTECTION OF BUILDING 

 TIMBER AND OTHER WOODWORK. 



IT will have been gathered from the fore- 

 going pages that timber is an important item 

 tor various purposes when forming an estate. 

 Equally important to the planter is the neces- 

 sity of protecting that timber from the white 

 ant, borer beetle, and sundry other wood- 

 destroying pests peculiar to tropical countries. 

 There can be no question of the wisdom of 

 treating all woodwork, intended to be of a 

 permanent character about the estate, by some 

 means which will ensure a substantial prolonga- 

 tion of its life beyond what could be expected 

 of any wood left to the ordinary course of 

 decay and insect attacks in the Tropics. 



Bungalows, coolie lines, fencing posts, &c., 

 are all liable to rapid deterioration and heavy 

 renewal costs, if means are not taken in the 

 first instance to preserve such woodwork. In 

 a set of plantation buildings involving an ex- 

 penditure of anything up to ,r,5OO, it would 

 be a "penny wise" policy not to make an 

 additional outlay, even up to 10 per cent, of 

 the total cost, for an efficient means of pre- 

 servation which should ensure the life of 

 ordinary timbers being at least doubled under 

 tropical conditions. 



