CIRCULAR I\ REGARD T' i CHE:^T\rT-OAK TIES. 



FOR iyFOR:>IATIOX OF EAJLPvOAD MAX'AGERS. 



U. S. Departmf.xt of Agriculture, Forestry Division-, 



jraihiu(jto)K D. C. December, liS7. 



GeXtlemex : Hoping that you liavo appreciated tlie rnamier in wliicli the Forestry 

 Division of this Department has, hy its first Balletin, attemiited to call the attention 

 of railroad managers to the need of economy in the use of forest supplies, allow me, 

 in furtherance of nuch economy, to present the following statements, which may be 

 of interest to you. 



In the use of oak for cross-ties, the specifications of most roads, especially tho^e of 

 the 8outh, call for -white oak {Qu^rcus aJba}, a timher Tvhich is sought for aUo by 

 almost every industry employing oak, and which is therefore rapidly decreasing and 

 approaching comparative exhaustion. Meanwhile, millions of feet of tan-bark or 

 chestnut oak '^Qucrcus ji^'i^ms) are ratting in the forests, after being stripped of thei" 

 bark, because their value for cross-ties is not known or is underestimated in many 

 regions. 



This lack of apx^reciation of the value of this viood causes not only waste of the 

 wood itself, but waste of. the bark also, as without ready demand for the wood i: 

 does not pay to peel the larger limbs. 



From information furnished by Dr. Mohr, of Mobile, Ala., an expert in forestry sta- 

 tistics and agent of this Departmei^, it' appears that from the line of the Louisville 

 and Xashville Eailroad, south of the Tennessee River, between 5,000 and 7,000 cords 

 of bark are shijiped annually, involving the felling in that district alone of fiom 

 10,000 to 13,000 trees which are consigned to useless destruction, while capable of 

 yielding not less than 100,000 first-class railroad ties. 



As to the lasting cxuality of the timber of chestnut oak, experiences are reported 

 from Cullman, Ala., to the effect that posts of this oak outlast those made of white 

 oak, partly, probably, because the timber is x^eeled. One reliable report states that 

 tan bark-oak posts were found to be sound after twelve years, while those of white 

 oak in the same construction had to be replaced several years sooner. Reports from 

 railroad comj)anies where this wood is used for ties give their life as from five to ten 

 years, while the reports for white oak give from three to twelve years. In the 

 average, all the oaks which are known as " white oaks," named below, last between 

 seven and eight years in the road-bed. 



That the oaks of this class may be used for railroad construction interchangeably, 

 and do not offer any appreciable differences in the qualities most essential for a gooil 

 railroad tie, the following table, compiled from the Census Report, may serve to show. 

 The column of specific gravity will allow an estimate in regard to adhesion of spikes, 

 while the column of indentation allows an estimate as to resistance to cutting of rail. 



