408 HEARINGS BEFORE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE. 
Mr. Brooks. As a practical matter for them? 
Mr. Price. Yes, sir. The New York Central Railroad is now con- 
sidering, under our recommendations, the purchase of forest lands in 
the Adirondacks for the production of hard-wood ties. 
Mr. Lams. What have you done with the cypress, and can you treat 
the soft pine in order to make it hard enough to hold the spike? 
Mr. Price. We are making experiments with that. 
Mr. Lams. What was the plan of the Pennsylvania Railroad? 
Mr. Price. The plan of the Pennsylvania road is to determine, with 
our help, if by entering into cooperation with private owners along 
their lines they could get a permanent supply of ties, or whethey they 
had best buy the land outright for the production of ties. 
Mr. Lamp. If they will buy the land and let it stand there nature 
will bring the ties? — 
Mr. Price. Yes; but a great deal quicker under careful manage- 
ment. 
Mr. Scorr. Have you made any progress in the search for a pre- 
servative that would extend the life of a tie? 
Mr. Price. Yes; the Santa Fe Railroad and several others are now 
treating with preservatives a portion of the ties they use. The result 
is in every case greatly to lengthen the life of the ties in the track. 
Mr. Scorr. To what extent does this preservative protract the life 
of a tie; can you make any estimate of that? 
Mr. Price. Yes, sir. For example, the life of the untreated lob- 
‘lolly pine tie in southeastern Texas, where a tie rots quicker than 
anywhere else in the United States on account of the unfavorable 
conditions of drainage and climate, is about a year, If the loblolly 
pine tie is treated with chloride of zinc, its life will be extended to 
three or four years. For instance, to give you an idea of the won- 
derful effect of preservative treatment, I hare seen sections of creosoted 
beech ties which have been in use thirty years in the French Eastern 
Railway and are practically as good as when they were laid. 
_Mr. Scorr. Do you mean to say that they have been using this 
preservative for thirty vears? ; 
Mr. Price. Yes, sir; the creosoting process was known ard used 
thirty years ago. 
Mr. Scott. They have not found anything better than that? 
Mr. Price. There are many processes; which is the best still waits 
for proof based upon experiment and study. 
Mr. Scorr. It would seem that problem was pretty nearly solved, 
if thirty years ago a preservative was found that would preserve a tie 
in that way. 
Mr. Lams. It is solved in regard to the pine? 
Mr. Price. The results for beech can not be applied to pine. Beech 
would not rot so quickly under any conditions. 
Mr. Lams. Beech is very hard? 
Mr. Price. Yes, sir. 
Mr. Brooxs. Some of the roads are taking steps toward the re- 
planting of adjacent areas? 
Mr. Pricn. They are considering it. 
Mr. Brooks. How about the consolidated roads of New England? 
Mr. Price. The advisability of commercial tree planting is being 
carefully studied in New England. 
Mr. Brooxs. That is in connection with your Bureau? 
