THE SEASONING AND PRESERVATIVE TREATMENT 

 OF WESTERN YELLOW PINE. 



By O. F. Swan. 



This paper presents a brief account of one part of a study 

 on pole timbers conducted in California. It will give a good 

 idea of the objects in view and the methods employed in an 

 investigation of this character. The present study was made 

 from the point of view of pole consumers in California, where 

 Western Red Cedar is now the principal species used for the 

 purpose. 



As the price of cedar poles advances, the question of pre- 

 servative treatment to increase their service and of finding other 

 and cheaper substitute timbers grows in importance to pole 

 consumers in California. An investigation of the possible sour- 

 ces of future supply for the Pacific Coast indicates that the 

 Western Yellow Pine of the Sierras is the most promising spe- 

 cies to be considered in this connection. Other species are short 

 in quantity or intrinsically unsuited for poles. It is probable 

 then that cedar will be used until it becomes much more pro- 

 fitable to use a substitute timber in certain regions. The natural 

 timber to fall back upon is Western Yellow Pine. 



The plan of the experiments was as follows: 



1. To conduct seasoning and treating experiments upon 

 Western Red Cedar in order to find methods of increasing its 

 life in the soil, since that species is destined for some time 

 to be the species used by most consumers. 



2. To conduct similar experiments upon Western Yellow 

 Pine, the species which is apparently destined gradually to dis- 

 place Western Red Cedar to a great extent in parts of the West. 



THE SEASONING OF WESTERN YELLOW PINE. 



Seasorirg means much more than drying out the water 

 in the woorl. The sap in timber is a complicated chemical 

 structure, and is subject to characteristic seasonal changes. 

 Thorough drying out of the water results in the destruction 

 of this sap as normally constituted. There is a disintegration 

 by many chemical changes. The addition of water to seasoned 

 timber, such as occurs when seasoned poles are in service, there- 

 fore can not reproduce the original internal conditions. These 

 changes are beneficial in the utilization of timber because the 

 original sap is a good fungus food, but once dried, it loses very 

 largely its property as a culture bed for decay-producing fungi. 



