GROWING COLORED WOODS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3141, 30 October 1922, Page 8

GROWING COLORED WOODS.

(By a Backwoodsman)

Neither the process of melting wood nor that of hardening soft timber prove half so interesting to the casual observer as watching Nature produce colored trees. In growing colored timber so that stain, varnish and paint are unneces- . sary, the trees are usually operatedl upon in the spring. This is because the sap and mineral matter is then more readily absorbed by the tissues of the trunk and branches. After the various tints or colorings are decided upon, a slanting hole is . bored through each tree about a foot\ from the ground. In the lower end of the hole a short wooden plug is driven. Before the air has time to dry up the sap in the newly-made hole, a concentrated solution of aniline dye is forced through by means of a rubber hose and a hand pump. The result is that the dye, on mixing with the sap, circulates throughout the tree and colors the wood. With, the exception of a few trees, a pumpful of the dye every two or three hours is sufficient. Some of the large trees will soak up a gallon a day. Others need little more "than a pint* a day. In every case the amount of dye standing in the slanting hole serves as a guide. As might be expected, the first part of the tree to stain is the outer layer of wood. This becomes nicely colored in about three days. The remaining time is taken up by the dye spreading to the tree centre. To determine if the coloring is effectual throughout, augers are driven into the branches at different heights, and microscopic examinations made of the sawdust. Variation in the shades of the sawdust reveals if the process of coloring is complete. For example, too much white indicates streaks. This is due to insufficient dye. Where "felled" timber is to be colored, the process is somewhat lengthy. Providing such timber as birch, oak, elm, pine, or spruce is freshly cut, it may be effectually dyed by burial in loamy soil to a depth of four or five I feet. Lime and aniline dyes are then poured on the top soil. In this position the wood is left for four or five months and various applications of dye and lime are administered at regular intervals. In this way the wood buried beneath becomes impregnated' with the coloring matter. On being: dug out and dried the wood is slightly harder than otherwise and. if anything, ai trifle heavier.