62 white spruce poles, 6 m in length, were cut from full size utility poles commercially pressure treated with preservative. 21 of the poles were treated with pentachlorophenol, while of the remainder, all of which were treated with ammoniacal copper arsenate, 22 were kerfed and 19 were unkerfed. The poles were installed in the Westham Island field test site, near Vancouver, and inspected annually. After three years of exposure, deep checks have formed in the unkerfed ACA and PCP treated poles. The average depth of the "worst" check (i.e. that which penetrated the poles to the greatest depth) in the unkerfed ACA treated poles is 2.2 times that of the poles which were kerfed. No significant difference was detected in the depth of the worst check in the unkerfed poles treated with either ammoniacal copper arsenate or pentachlorophenol.

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