CHEMICALLY TREATED TIMBER.

King Country Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 249, 9 April 1910, Page 5

CHEMICALLY TREATED TIMBER.

There appears to be a strong probability that chemically-treated New Zealand birch will be largely used in the Dominion in preference to the hardwood timber such as jarrali and karri. An experiment has just been conducted by Professor D. F. Mackenzie, F.S.L., of Moreton Hall, Liberton, Scotland, on sections of Powellised birch, and also on "untreated" sections, at the English branch of the Powell Wood Company. Both sections were placed in active contact with the dry rot fungus (murulius lacrymons) for something over a year, with the result that while the treated portions were found to be quite sound right through the ordeal, the untreated .sections were found to be entirely decayed. The outcome of this is that the life of birch timber for railway sleepers may be prolonged for fully twenty-vfie years, and following Professor Mackenzie's experiment and statement, the New Zealand Government has placed an order with the Powell Wood Company, Rangataua, for 10,000 birch sleepers, which will probably be used on portions of the Stratford-Ongarue railway line, near Whangamomona. The fact that New Zealand birch chemically treated can be transformed into serviceable usefulness for such a lengthy peri id as a quarter of a century for railway and .also for bridge purposes, is very important. There are at present large areas of birch in different parts of the Dominion, which are regarded as waste, and only fit to be burnt. They will now become a valuable asset to property owners. As railway sleepers they should be unsurpassed. They are hard and heavy, weighing 120 pounds against the 40pound silver pine sleepers on the Main Trunk line, which are being found far too soft for the heavy traffic which daily thunders over them.