Abstract
Two unsterile soil test methods, the soil burial technique and a method using vermiculite burial with soil inoculation, were compared using different soils to determine their effectiveness in evaluation of wood preservatives against soft rot. Isolation of fungi and microscopy of decayed wood indicated that both methods produced accelerated soft rot attack in treated and untreated birch. Vermiculite burial with soil inoculation produced significantly higher and consistent weight losses over the range of preservative concentrations allowing more confidence in threshold retention selection.