Ties should be seasoned. — Simply seasoning tics would ;i<hl mucb to 
their durability. They should be piled so as to have a free circulation 
of air under and about each tie. The top of the pile should bo inclined 
so as to shed water. As soon as the trees are felled the bark should 
be removed in order to facilitate the seasoning of the wood. Large 
timber for switch stands, trestles, floor beams, and stringers for bridges 
should be seasoned undercover to prevent the sun from seasoning only 
an exterior layer, thereby preventing the escape of moisture from the 
interior and inducing interior decay. Station platforms of timber should 
have a circulation of air under them, otherwise they are quite liable to 
be attacked by some of the fungi. In many cases spruce planks in these 
structures have decayed in less than two years. 
The appearance of some of the fungi present upon and in piles of 
timber is, perhaps, familiar to all track managers, but we have been 
taught so long that this is simply the accompaniment of decay, instead 
of being its inducing cause, that such effective measures to prevent 
rotting have not been taken as might have been and will now be adopted 
since the cause is better understood. 
Preservation of ties. — In most eases thorough and proper treatment 
will preserve ties so as to double their life as far as decay is concerned ; 
but the method that is most suitable for one kind of wood may not 
answer for another of different characteristics. This will be more ap- 
parent upon examining the structure of the woods illustrated. To be 
successful the conditions of each ease must be considered; not only the 
kind of wood, but whether it is seasoned or not, and what the liual 
surroundings are where it is to be used. For railway ties, we can say 
in general that the treatment must be such as will do one of two things: 
keep the wood dry; or, if it is to be used in a position where it will be 
moist, the antiseptic must be sufficient to check all fungous growth or 
fermentation, to do which the cells of the wood must be thoroughly im- 
pregnated. The success of Dr. Boucherie's first process of forcing a 
solution of copper sulphate through the green wood was due to the 
complete impregnation of the wood-cells. But this plan of treatment 
requires much care and skill to be effective. The late Dr. Hough, in 
Vol. IV. of the Report on Forestry, p. 1G5, says : 
" Upon the Flushing Railroad Burnetii zed ties were used in building' tlie pile- work 
near Flashing village in 1868, the timber being green Sprueo 12 by 12 (iuehes), sawed 
aud used as stringers, from 1 to 10 feet above the level of salt-marsh meadows. They 
appeared to have been thoroughly treated to the heart. There being some deficiency 
in tho supply the work was completed with White Pino stringers (not Burnett- 
ized) of the same dimensions as the Spruce. Upon repairing the pile- work the Bur- 
nett! zed timber was found decayed in the heart, leaving a shell of from 1 x 3 inches, 
while the Pine was comparatively sound, some portions being merely sap-rotten au 
inch or so deep on the outside. 
"The road master then in charge, and who writes apparently without the least in- 
terest or prejudice, considers the Burnettized timbers unsafe for railroad structures 
on account of its decaying at the heart and leaving a shell that is sound, which would 
naturally lead employes to regard the timber safe for trains after it had reached a 
21753— Bull. No, 1- 3 
