

TESTS OF ROCKY MOUXTAIX WOODS FOE TELEPHONE POLES. 6 



pine takes treatment readily. Cedar, on the other hand, allows but 

 a very shallow penetration. 



Another tree, Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmanni) also has a 

 wide distribution throughout the Rocky Mountains, although it 

 grows commercially only at the higher altitudes. It is thus not as 

 available as the lodgepole pine, nor in shape or in its ability to take 

 preservative treatment is it so well adapted for poles. It grows 

 farther south, however, and in many districts is the only native tim- 

 ber available for pole use. Figure 1 ^ shows the botanical range of 

 growth of the three species. The relatively restricted range of western 

 red cedar indicates the importance to the more southern mountain 

 States of determining the value of local timbers for telephone and 

 power line poles. 



Forest fires in the Rocky Mountains have killed many stands of 

 spruce and pine, and the disposal of this material, which, through 

 checking, is rendered practically useless for saw timber, has always 

 been a troublesome problem. On many areas such material remains 

 entirely sound for a number of years after the fire, and, besides, is 

 thoroughly seasoned and thus ready for treatment as soon as cut. 

 In some regions the mines use all the available dead timber, though 

 elsewhere there is a great deal of prejudice against the use of "fire- 

 killed" material, under the mistaken assumption that there is some 

 inherent difference in wood that has been seasoned on the stump 

 and wood that has been cut when green. 



The purpose of the tests described in this bulletin was: (1) To 

 compare the strength of poles of western red cedar, the present 

 standard, and of lodgepole pine and Engelmann spruce, and (2) to 

 deterniine the value for pole timber of fire-killed pine and spruce 

 in the central Rocky Mountain region. 



The fire-killed material was donated by the Colorado Telephone Co. 

 and the Central Colorado Power Co. The remainder of the material 

 tested was secured by the Forest Service, either by purchase or from 

 the National Forests. The tests were made at the Forest Service 

 timber-testing laboratory conducted in cooperation ^^ith the Univer- 

 sity of Colorado, Boulder, Colo. 



MATERIAL TESTED. 



The material for the tests consisted of poles nominally 25 feet long 

 and of 7 inches top diameter. Average material was specified in 

 each case. 



WESTERN RED CEDAR. 



Twenty cedar poles were purchased on the Denver market at a 

 cost of 14 per pole. Information furnished by the seller showed the 

 poles to have been cut during the winter of 1908-9, near Edgemere, 

 Idaho. When received at the laboratory they appeared to be 



1 Distribution maps prepared by Office of Dendrology. 



