 It's a good preservative. Insects aren't going to, you know, bother it or anything along those lines. One of the things he used to use on farms all the time, Kitty, was linseed oil. Because linseed oil is made from the flax seed. And when people put linseed oil on their house, on a farm, the cows would come over and they'd be licking their house all day long because of the flax seed.