A HANDBOOK FOR EUCALYPTUS PLANTERS. 43 



Examinations of the posts will be made from time to time to determine 

 their durability under different methods of treatment. The experi- 

 ment, when concluded, will demonstrate whether blue gum may be used 

 to advantage for post material. 



Red, blue, sugar and red iron bark gums were used. It was found 

 that all yielded to treatment remarkably well. The average cost per 

 post was 6 or 7 cents for preservative alone. To this must be added 

 the minor cost items, labor and wear of apparatus. The greater 

 durability of treated gum posts is still unknown, but judging from the 

 increased life of other inferior woods after treatment, and the known 

 value of creosote as a preservative, it is safe to predict an increased 

 durability all out of proportion to the cost of treatment. 



Poles. A large amount of timber is used annually for poles for 

 electric wiring. The increase in value has almost prohibited the use 

 of the much preferred Oregon pine (Pseudotsin/a taxifoUa), and pole 

 timbers of lower grade have come into use. Oregon cedar from which 

 from six to fifteen years' service is obtained, depending on the character 

 of the soil in which the poles are set, is the chief substitute. Experi- 

 ments are also being conducted looking toward the substitution of yellow 

 pine and yellow cedar. Eucalyptus poles have been tried to a limited 

 extent, and may be expected under treatment to outlast the pole timbers 

 in present use. 



Railroad Ties. The development of transcontinental, interurban and 

 urban railways has created a strong demand for timber suitable for 

 ties. Eucalyptus timber has not yet come into general use for ties. 

 although the indications are that it will be used more extensively in tin- 

 future. The value of the wood for tie use has been tested by the South- 

 ern Pacific Company. Some hundreds of ties of California-grown blue 

 gum were laid green and untreated in sandy soil in the roadbed through 

 central Nevada. They exhibited good wearing qualities and the requisite 

 strength, but, through lack of proper seasoning, cheeked badly, so that 

 in some cases they failed to hold the spikes. At the end of four years 

 the ties showed no signs of decay; after seven years' service some were 

 worthless from decay, but some were sound at the end of eleven years. 



The result of the experiment officially reported to the company 

 credited the gum ties with being equal to the best second grade Southern 

 pine, but the experiment was not followed by more extensive use. Gum 

 timber can not compete with the best tie timber in durability, but if 

 the life of gum wood is extended by preservative treatment its wearing 

 qualities will make it a superior tie timber. 



With increase in cost of redwood and pine timber, lower grade ties 

 of the more durable eucalypts should find a place in the market. Sea- 



