Preserving Timber.

Manawatu Herald, 18 June 1895, Page 3

Preserving Timber.

" There is about to be introduced j into England," says E&gineering, 44 a procfss of preserving timber which bis beep for some years in operation in the United States, the details of which have been worked out by polonfl Haskin. Ordinarily the tregttfflen* of timber to obviate decay possjsts in the application, site b#iog dried, of some antiseptic .%lori&Mf fbjo, sulphate of copper, bkfcloraa of mercury, and) much tttrt ♦ivitMtfiy. mufti ill

tm^^ mt t m & ma umummmmmmrmnni] Colonel Haskin believes that the timber in its green state has in itself the properties essential to preservation, and the process associated -With bis time is designed to utilise those properties; The -Wood lfl its greed state is placed in a large airtight VeSsel} and is there subjfected to an ail? pfessttfe v&ryifift according to the timber, from 1501 bto 2dolb to the square inch ; and this air is dried first and heated 1/ passing through pipes over a stove, the ultimate temperature being from 200deg to 450deg Fahr. according to the nature of the wood. The effect is said to be a chemical change in those compounds— albuminous, glutinous, resinous* or oleaginous — Which constitute the sap of the tree, so that the flttid matter becomes insoluble, and coagulates in the pores, preventing decomposition. This result is attained in about eight hours' treatment for, say, a mahogany log 12 inches thick, the time varying with the thickness. The process has thus the merit at least of great rapidity, but time alone is the arbiter of its preserving qualities."