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A great deal of time and money has been spent by individuals 
and corporations in the effort to prolong the life of these timbers. 
Different styles of pile casings, made of copper, zinc, cement, 
and other materials, have been constructed and patented, and at 
the present time piles thus encased are under observation in many 
localities. 
In addition, a great deal of work has been done in developing 
a preservative treatment to prevent the attack of the borers. This 
consists in impregnating the pile with creosote or dead oil of coal 
tar. When the piles are open-grained, and the oil has been of a 
proper quality and has been correctly injected, this plan has prob- 
ably given the best results. It is true that a great many piles 
treated with creosote have been attacked by marine borers and 
destroyed, but in such cases there is usually a good reason to 
account for the failure. For instance, the use of timber of such 
density that the preservative cannot be forced into it, the use of 
green timber, the lack of sufficient preservative, or the use of a 
preservative of inferior grade may prevent the treatment from 
being completely successful. 
BETTER LUMBERING METHODS. 
The criminal wastefulness of the old time lumberman has left 
bare scars in practically every section of the United States, where 
after the land had been denuded of trees, the fire has swept. 
Great as was the waste in the woods the waste at the mill was 
almost as serious. In many cases considerably less than half the 
available tree was marketed. 
Practical men in the lumber industry are now reducing waste 
to a minimum. Improved machinery is playing its part in the 
utilization of the tree, and better work in the woods and protec- 
tion from fire are already doing much to ameliorate the threat- 
ened lumber famine. 
The day when the lumberer slashed trees ruthlessly and boasted 
of the inexhaustible timber resources of the United States have 
forever passed away. • 
SAW DUST. 
So great is the importance of checking timber waste that the 
National Conservation Commission is instituting a special investi- 
gation as to the w ? aste of lumber in saw mills. In this connec- 
tion cooperage, veneer, furniture, box, vehicle and implement 
manufacturers are being asked to point out the sources of waste 
in their respective callings. 
