78 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



Protecting Wood The Forest Service has lately attacked a 

 AGAINST problem the solution of which will be of 



Marine-Borers. great value all over the world wherever 

 timber structures of any kind are built in 

 salt water. The problem, briefly, consists in determining some 

 means of efficiently protecting such structures against the attacks 

 of the marine-borers. 



The marine-borers are forms of sea life which attack all kinds 

 of wood exposed in sea water. They thrive in salt and brackish 

 water all over the world, and every year destroy millions of 

 dollars worth of piling and other timbers. In some places, 

 notably on our Gulf Coast, their attacks are so destructive that 

 a pine pile will be unserviceable after an immersion of thirty 

 days. Even on the Pacific Coast their attacks are terrific, — 

 eucalyptus sheet piling being riddled in eight months in San 

 Francisco Bay. That the drain upon the pockets of wharf users 

 and managers is great may be judged from the fact that in 1909 

 over 6,500,000 lineal feet of piling were creosoted in the United 

 States alone ; this is aside from the timbers used in an untreated 

 condition, and those protected by patented preservatives. 



As a preliminary step in the solution of this problem the Forest 

 Service has placed in the waters of San Francisco and San Diego 

 Bays some 250 experimental piles of various wood species. Some 

 are protected by creosote, others by patent preservatives, and the 

 remainder are left untreated. The piles will be inspected at 

 regular intervals until all are destroyed by the marine-borers. 

 From this test the most resistant species of timber, or the best 

 artificial protection, will be determined. 



The Forest Service realizes, however, that such a test will give 

 but a temporary solution of the problem, and it is seriously con- 

 sidering both a study of the borers and of pile preservatives in 

 general. If the problem is solved it will mean a saving of 

 millions of dollars annually. 



Californians a recent examination of the records in the 

 IN THE office of the District Forester, at San Fran- 



FoREST Service, cisco, shows a surprising predominance of 

 Californians in the field force of this District. 

 There are now nineteen National Forests in California, each of 

 them in charge of a Forest Supervisor and his deputy, assisted 

 by ten to thirty rangers and guards as well as one or two forest 

 assistants. These are the men on the ground, dealing directly 

 with the people. Thirteen of the Supervisors are Californians. 

 The remaining six are men originally appointed to positions in 

 the Service from other States. 



