200 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



the first six months. Similar results were obtained in Kentucky, 

 Tennessee, and Mississippi with red oak, beech, and red gfum. 



In Illinois and Indiana tests to determine the rate of seasoning of 

 white oak ties, which have been in progress almost two years, were 

 brought to a close, and the results are being prepared for publication. 

 The seasoned ties were laid in the track near Brownstown, Ind.,.and 

 careful record will be kept of their resistance to decay. 



Tests conducted in cooperation with the Ayer & Lord Tie Company 

 demonstrated in the case of red oak ties treated with zine chlorid the 

 importance both of thorough preliminary seasoning and of thorough 

 drying out after treatment, not only in order to increase the effective- 

 ness of the preservative treatment, but also to obviate the loss from 

 splitting due to the freezing of tlieir water content. 



EASTERN. 



Studies in preservative treatment in the East during the past year 

 were concerned largely with telephone poles, in continuation and 

 enlargement of work begun during the previous year. As a rule, poles 

 are set almost at once after cutting. The poles are of a larger diame- 

 ter at the butt than is at first necessary to carry the anticipated load of 

 wires and cross-arms, because the diminution in size due to rot at or 

 near the surface of the ground has to be taken into consideration. 

 Should it prove possible to treat poles atthe butt economically,, very 

 much smaller trees could be used because allowance for weakening by 

 decay would be unnecessary, and the poles could be grown in a shorter 

 time. 



The subjects studied were, first, seasoning of telephone poles, and 

 second, treatment of cross-arms. The poles experimented with were 

 of chestnut and white cedar and belonged to the American Telephone 

 and Telegraph Company, in cooperation with whom the work was 

 done. Five stations were maintained, at each of which 50 poles cut 

 each month were carefully' weighed and measured, and reweighed and 

 remeasured at monthly intervals to determine the loss of weight and 

 shrinkage. 



Preservative tests were carried on at Norfolk, Va., to determine 

 whether it would be possible to treat loblolly pine cross-arms with 

 creosote in such a way that a uniform amount of creosote would be 

 injected into the arm in quantities not over 12 pounds per cubic foot. 

 It was found that under the ordinary method of creosoting, some arms 

 took up but 1^ pounds and others as much as 35 pounds of creosote, 

 resulting in the latter case not only in a waste of material, but also in 

 much damage to property from subsequent dripping of creosote from 

 the arms in hot weather. By omission of the steaming process and a 

 classification of the crOss-arms into three groups, it was found possi- 

 ble to bring about a more uniform treatment in less than half the time 

 that had usuallj' been required. The bearing of these tests on the 

 general problem of creosoting is emphasized, for similar results would 

 presumably be obtained with other classes of material. 



Cooperative tests of the Riiping process for creosoting was carried 

 on at Perth Amboy, N. J. This process claims to treat timber with 

 creosote at a very small cost. Ties of loblolly, shortleaf, and lodge- 

 pole pine, beech, red oak, and red fir were shipped to Perth Amboy. 



