: I won't hold that against you.
: I guess I'll give it a shot.The nub from the new pole looks really red. Is
: this from the treatment you think?

Is that the wood you're looking at? Could you gouge out a bit from the core? Treatment goes in about an inch under pressure, on all surfaces. The lighter, more mobile constituents further then the heavier compounds. The asphaltic tars and goo from tank bottoms, of course, sit right at the surface. Cresote and pentachlorphenol add color at the surface and into the wood a varying distance, usually darkening it quite a bit. The center is just raw wood. It could be heartwood you're looking at, too. Could you cut a crossection off 3 inches from the end and post an image? The local hardwood guys should be able to ID the woods. There's also a a BBS:
http://www.woodcentral.com/newforum/msgset.shtml

That has some really sharp guys who can ID anything in the Known Universe!