TESTS OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN WOODS FOR TELEPHONE POLES. 6 
pine takes treatment readily. Cedar, on the other hand, allows but 
a very shallow penetration. 
Another tree, Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmanni) also has a 
wide distribution throughout the Rocky Mountains, although it 
grows commercially only at the higher altitudes. It is thus not as 
available as the lodgepole pine, nor in shape or in its ability to take 
preservative treatment is it so well adapted for poles. It grows 
farther south, however, and in many districts is the only native tim- 
ber available for pole use. Figure 1 1 shows the botanical range of 
growth of the three species. The relatively restricted range of western 
red cedar indicates the importance to the more southern mountain 
States of determining the value of local timbers for telephone and 
power line poles. 
Forest fires in the Rocky Mountains have killed many stands of 
spruce and pine, and the disposal of this material, which, through 
checking, is rendered practically useless for saw timber, has always 
been a troublesome problem. On many areas such material remains 
entirely sound for a number of years after the fire, and, besides, is 
thoroughly seasoned and thus ready for treatment as soon as cut. 
In some regions the mines use all the available dead timber, though 
elsewhere there is a great deal of prejudice against the use of "fire- 
killed" material, under the mistaken assumption that there is some 
inherent difference in wood that has been seasoned on the stump 
and wood that has been cut when green. 
The purpose of the tests described in this bulletin was: (1) To 
compare the strength of poles of western red cedar, the present 
standard, and of lodgepole pine and Engelniann spruce, and (2) to 
determine the value for pole timber of fire-killed pine and spruce 
in the central Rocky Mountain region. 
The fire-killed material was donated by the Colorado Telephone Co. 
and the Central Colorado Power Co. The remainder of the material 
tested was secured by the Forest Service, either by purchase or from 
the National Forests. The tests were made at the Forest Service 
timber-testing laboratory conducted in cooperation with the Univer- 
sity of Colorado, Boulder, Colo. 
MATERIAL TESTED. 
The material for the tests consisted of poles nominally 25 feet long 
and of 7- inches top diameter. Average material was specified in 
each case. 
WESTERN RED CEDAR. 
Twenty cedar poles were purchased on the Denver market at a 
cost of $4 per pole. Information furnished by the seller showed the 
poles to have been cut during the winter of 1908-9, near Edgemere, 
Idaho. When received at the laboratory they appeared to be 
1 Distribution maps prepared by Office of Dendrology. 
