American Forest Congress 277 



Up to within recent times most of the tie and con- 

 struction timbers used by the railroads were timbers 

 like the white oak and longleaf yellow pine. These 

 were used because they combined great durability with 

 strength and good wearing qualities. They were 

 abundant along the lines of the roads and were obtain- 

 able in large quantities and at a comparatively low cost. 

 A purchasing agent had no difficulty, not more than 

 ten years ago, in getting any number of first-class white 

 oak ties in the middle or central states at from 35 to 60 

 cents. While the prices for such timbers are not yet 

 excessive owing to local supplies, it is, nevertheless, 

 becoming increasingly difficult to obtain large regular 

 supplies of such timbers, and with an ever-increasing 

 demand, the question has been asked for several years, 

 and with increasing anxiety, where the tie supply is to 

 come from in the future. It may not be without inter- 

 est to state here that, according to a recent estimate 

 made, about 118,000,000 ties were used for renewal 

 purposes during 1904. 



As a result of the uncertainty in getting a sufficient 

 number of ties which could be used in the natural 

 condition, many roads turned toward the so-called 

 inferior woods, like red and water oaks, beech, gum, 

 the softer pines, hemlock, etc. None of these woods 

 can be used without preservation, because they decay 

 with great rapidity when in contact with the ground. 

 It is not yet fully realized that when thoroughly treated 

 that a red oak or beech tie becomes the equal, if not the 

 superior, of an untreated white oak tie, as far as resist- 

 ance to decay is concerned. The use of such woods as 

 red oak, beech, loblolly pine, etc., if generally adopted, 

 would bring into the market a large body of timber 

 which would insure a constant supply for many years 

 to come. It is a fortunate circumstance that these 



