317 
The opportunity for economy is found, first, in using the kinds 
of posts which, taking into account both cost and durability, are 
cheapest in the long run, and, secondly, by treating the posts to 
prevent decay, particularly those which decay most quickly. 
When a farmer sets a post which will have a comparatively short 
life, he loses not only through having to buy a new post but also 
because of the additional labor involved in setting it. It is true 
that in both cases no money outlay may be involved, for he may 
set the posts himself, after getting them from his own woodlot. 
Of the posts used last year in Iowa, seventy per cent., it is esti- 
mated, were grown on the farms where they were used, or were 
obtained from other farmers or woodlot owners, and only thirty 
per cent, were bought from lumber dealers. Nevertheless, the 
farmer is out his labor and the part of the product of his woodlot 
which is used up, even though he does not pay out any cash. 
The average life of a fence post is stated to be fourteen years 
and the average cost 13.7 cents. There is, however, great dif- 
ference in the lasting properties of different woods. Preservative 
treatment increases the life of all wooden posts and more than 
doubles the period of usefulness of those which are mostly sap- 
wood. The two million dollars spent yearly by Iowa farmers in 
buying and setting fence posts might be materially lessened by 
putting into practice the well known methods of wood preserva- 
tion. It costs much less to treat a post than to buy a new one 
and set it in the ground, and in addition much wood could be 
saved for other purposes. The Department of Agriculture has 
made a special study of practical methods of preserving farm 
timbers, so that it is able to inform interested inquirers how to 
do this for themselves. 
Forest products to the value of $51,161 were shipped from 
ITawaii to the United States mainland in 1909, as compared with 
$18,912 in 1908 and $13,273 in 1907. - 
In our Washington letter on ‘'The Fence Posts of Iowa,” we 
have struck out comparisons of different woods, as those men- 
tioned- are mostly unknown here. The advice regarding economy 
in fence posts will no doubt be useful to agriculturists, forest 
growers and ranchmen in Hawaii. 
^ Honey shipments from Hawaii to the mainland are not deemed 
worthy of mention by name in the statistics of the department 
of Commerce and Labor. The information is given in statistics 
just received from the department of Agriculture. In 1909 the 
value of honey shipped hence to the United States was $50,412, 
as compared with $30,842 in 1908 and $26,680 in 1907. 
