16 DEPARTMENT BULLETIN 863, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE. 



High grade and valuable timber should not be used in places about 

 the farm where less valuable woods will answer the purpose. Some- 

 times choice white oak worth $40 a thousand feet in the log for 

 veneers, is split up into fence posts, or black walnut used for farm 

 gates because it " won't split." Substitutes can be found by children 

 upon inquiry from their parents or neighbors. 



Small and young timber cut in making improvement thinnings in 

 overcrowded stands can often be sold or used on the farm for posts, 

 poles, or firewood, instead of being allowed to decay in the woods. 



Treating of fence posts : Short-lived woods when soaked in hot and 

 then in cold creosote last from 10 to 20 years as fence posts. As the 

 supply of long-lived woods, such as black locust, osage orange, red 



FIG 8. Small pine logs cut in improving the woods by thinning. 



cedar, chestnut, mulberry, and catalpa become scarce, treated fence 

 posts are being increasingly used. Most all farms have some com- 

 mon woods growing, practically all of which take coal-tar creosote 

 readily. 



Practical exercises. In a field trip to the farm forests note what 

 care is taken in felling trees, the disposition of limbs and tops, and 

 the height of the stumps. What examples may be found where an 

 expensive wood is used that could be replaced by a cheaper sub- 

 stitute? What high-priced timber is found in the district? What 

 is the common method of treating fence posts? How do telephone 

 and telegraph companies protect their poles ? What good and what 

 bad example of the use of farm timber can^you mention ? 



