50 



$50; and it would not pay except on a very large farm where 

 there is a great deal of fencing to be done. 



186. A method has been devised by the writer to meet 

 the needs of the small farmer. A simple galvanized iron 

 tube, 10 inches across and 5 feet long, is used. It can be 

 made by any tinner, at a cost of not more than $2. The one 

 shown in the cuts cost $1,50. The tube is leaned against a 

 bench or other support at a convenient slant, filled about 

 two-thirds full of creosote; and a small fire is built against 

 the bottom. A post is dipped into the tube and withdrawn 

 after 3 or 4 minutes. It is placed upright with the lower 

 end in a bucket to catch the creosote that drains off. An- 

 other post is placed in the tube, and the first is removed 

 from the bucket and placed on the pile. The cost of treating 

 posts for 3 feet at one end is from 2 to 3 cents. This meth- 

 od is not so effective as the open-tank treatment, but it is 

 more effective than the brush treatment, and it costs less 

 than either. 



187. Timber should be seasoned before it is treated 

 with a preservative; and it is best to let it stand for some 

 weeks after treatment. 



188. It hardly pays to treat timbers that are naturally 

 lasting, such as heart pine, white oak, mulberry, and locust. 

 But it does pay to treat the black oaks, loblolly pine and the 

 like. With only a brush treatment some loblolly pine posts 

 put in 4 years ago are still serviceable and will probably not 

 have to be taken out for 2 more years. Loblolly pine with- 

 out treatment lasts about 2 years. While definite information 

 is hard to get, the indications are that the loblolly pine, 

 which is cheap, easy to cut, light to handle, and easy to 

 drive staples into, can with the tube treatment be made to 

 last as long as white oak, which is expensive, hard to cut, 

 heavy to handle, and hard to drive staples into. 



