I 
108 Indian Forest Records. [Vol. VI 
From the above statement it will be seen that the four sleepers have 
increased in weight by 6£ lbs., while they have lost 67J lbs. of sap, 
assuming that the specific gravity of sap is 1. The amount of oil, there¬ 
fore, which they have absorbed is 74 lbs. or 18-5 lbs.-per sleeper. The 
average weight of a green sleeper was 97-4 lbs.; deducting 1-69 gallons 
of sap lost by one sleeper during treatment, its weight would be 80-5 lbs., 
leaving out of consideration the amount of oil absorbed. As a metre- 
gauge sleeper is 1-5 cubic feet, the weight per cubic foot after treatment 
amounts to 53-6 lbs., while air-dried 4 Hollong ’ weighs 43 lbs. per cubic 
foot. To complete the seasoning of the sleepers it would, therefore, be 
necessary to take out another gallon of sap per c. ft. The sleepers were 
examined and found to be not cracked after treatment. 
Conclusions . 
Taking into consideration that the above experiments were only 
carried out with relatively few sleepers, they are not final. Provisionally, 
the following conclusions have been arrived at :_ 
1. That partial seasoning can be obtained by either steam or oil 
seasoning, but that the process is in both cases incomplete. 
2. That oil seasoning gives better results than steam seasoning 
as, by the former process, the four sleepers lost a total of 
39-6 lbs., while those treated in hot oil lost 67*5 lbs. by weight. 
3. That were the oil seasoning process to be prolonged at a slightly 
higher temperature, the point of seasoning reached might 
be sufficient for sleepers used in the damp climate of Assam, 
but not for dry hot situations. 
4. That the above experiments having been carried out on a very 
small scale, they cannot in any way be accepted as final. 
From whac has been said above, it will be gathered that there are 
two possible ways of dealing with the question of seasoning tiftiber be¬ 
fore treatment in damp climates : (i) to naturally season as far as possible 
and finish off the process in drying kilns, or (ii) to season in oil in conjunc¬ 
tion with treatment. Until further data are available, no definite state¬ 
ment can be made as to the relative merits of these two processes when 
working under Indian conditions, though probably the former process 
would be the safer of the two to adopt under existing circumstances. 
(4) Discussion as to the most suitable method of treating 
timbers 
When considering the best method to be adopted for the treatment 
of timber, we have first to take into consideration the species of timber 
[ 238 ] 
