How to Combat Dry Rot

The Merits of Cuprinol

THE greatest enemy of the house-owner in the Pacific Islands, next to white ants, is “dry rot.” Who has not had the experience of seeing a gate-post, or wall, or an essential, sup porting beam, suddenly collapse, and discovering that the interior wood, under the covering of paint, is simply a mass of dry rot?

“Dry rot,” actually, is not decay. It is the result of an attack on the wood by certain classes of fungi, which live by extracting the celluloses from the wood. When the fungi are finished with the wood, it is only a mass of powder, without tensile strength.

Many methods of combatting dry rot have been employed. What is apparently an effective one has been perfected in Britain, and has been intro duced to Australia and the South Seas by British Australian Lead Manufacturers Pty. Ltd.

“Cuprinol,” a liquid, is a fungicide and insecticide, which is applied to wood—and to fabrics, such as canvas, netting, cordage, etc. —and which renders it immune from attacks by fungi, and other agents of decay.

Cuprinol is not an oil or tar product. It is a preparation of organo-metallic salts, produced as a result of many years of research and experi ment. It is 20 years since it was first used, and its effectiveness has been proved. It is simply and easily applied. Timber that is to be in con tact with the earth, or with bricks, or cement, or that is in damp places, is soaked in Cuprinol for IS minutes; other timber is brushed or sprayed; and the wood then will be immune from dry rot.

Timber that already has been attacked by dry rot can be cleansed, and the trouble can be removed entirely, provided the timber is in a position where Cuprinol can be introduced.

An important point is that Cuprinol lasts. It cannot be washed out of timber, ropes or canvas, and it does not evaporate with heat. It pene trates deeply; it can be painted or varnished over; it is not corrosive; it guards against wood-destroy ing insects as well as fungi; and it does not harm humans or animals.

Details of this useful preparation are advertised in this issue.