A Decennial Kecokd «5 



waste now resulting from the inefficient selection and utilization of 

 material. 



77/ r Preservative Treatment of Wood 



This is a large field of conservation possihilities. To date the 

 laboratory's work has been directed mainly to determining the pene- 

 trability of different species with available commercial preservatives 

 and to developing more efficient processes of treating wood to protect 

 it against decav. Recent estimates show that the annual loss due to 

 decay in varied' forms of structural timbers, such as railroad ties, mine 

 timbers, pihng, bridge timliers, posts, poles, etc., amounts to as much 

 material as is annually lost by forest fires. A\^ood preservation has 

 been demonstrated as commercially profitable, but its practice is not 

 as general as it should be, and preservative methods are still susceptible 

 to much improvement. 



The laboratorv has also done a limited amount of work on the 

 problem of fire-])roofing wood, but has not had the facilities nor the 

 organization to carrv it to the point of success. Of the annual fire 

 loss in this countrv a great deal could be prevented by the develop- 

 ment of more effective and cheaper methods of fire-proofing wood. 

 ■Research in this field is necessarily expensive, but the possibdities of 

 saving both timber and property are so great and important that work 

 of this character should not be long postponed. 



Great cpiantities of mine timbers are destroyed annually l)y decay 

 because thev are not given preservative treatment. The amount of 

 timber usedin the mines throughout the country is staggering, and the 

 laboratorv should have men in the field most of the time conferring 

 with mine officials, demonstrating the value of wood preservatives and 

 promoting their use. Much of the necessary ex])eruneiital work on 

 the treatment of mine timber has been done, and its value has been 

 conclusivelv ])roved, but the laboratory has not the organization to 

 carry its iiiformation to tlie mine and demonstrate its application 



and use. . i . 



Similarlv, great (luantities of timber used as piling in salt water 

 are destroved annuallv bv marine borers. Incidents may be cited 

 where large docks and over-water buildings erected at great expense 

 have been undermined and practically destroyed within a year or two 



