The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1915-01-01
THE FUEL VALUE Of
WOOD OVER COAL

The fuel value of two pounds Of
wood is roughly equivalent to that
Of one pound of coal. This is given
as the result of certain calculations
now being made in the forest SER
vice laboratory, which show also
about how many cords of certain
kinds Of wood are required to OBJ
tain an amount of heat equal to
that in ton of coal.
Certain kinds of wood such as
hickory, oak, beech, birch, hard (,
maple, ash, elm, locust, longleaf
pine, and cherry, have fairly high =
heat values, and only one cord of
seasoned wood Of these species is .
required to equal one ton of good
coal.
1t takes cord and half of
shortleaf pine, hemlock, red gum,
Douglass fir, sycamore, and soft
maple to equal ton of coal, and
two cords of cedar, redwood, pop
lar, catalpa, Norway pine, cypress,
Eastwood, spruce, and white pine.
Equal weights of dry, non-resin-
Gus woods, however, are said to
have practically the same heat
value regardless of species, and as
consequence it can be stated as a
general proposition that the heavier
, the wood the more heat to the cord.
: Weight for weight, however, there
is very little difference between
various species; the average heat
! for all that have been calculated is
o 4,600 -ealories, or heat units, per
s kilogram. A kilogram of resin will
: develop 9,400 heat units, or about
4 twice the average for wood. AS a
consequence, resinous woods have
a greater heat value per pound than
6 nonresinous woods; this increased
value varies, of course, with the
q resin content.
h The available heat value of a
cord of wood depends on many diff
= ferent factors. 1t has a relation
e not only to the amount of resin it
n contains but to the amount of
f. moisture present. Furthermore,
If cords vary as to the amount of
, solid wood they contain. even where
II they are of the standard dimension
in and occupy 1913 cubic feet of space.
q A certain proportion of this space is
j. made up of air spaces between the
sticks, and this air space may be
considerable in a cord made OF
twisted, crooked, and knotty sticks
Out of the 1913 cubic feet, a fail
average of solid wood is about sc
"a cubic feet.
~ 1t is pointed out, however, that
~ ~ heat value is not the only test o1
~ '.e usefulness in fuel wood and sine.
- 95 per cent of all wood used fol
-, =. fuel is consumed for domestic pur
~ poses, largely in farm houses, sucl
TO- 10, factors as rapidlty of burning ant
''o ease of lighting are important
40. Each section of the country has it
ns favored woods and these are said t.
s na be, in general, the right ones t.
49, use. Hickory, of the non-resinou
'nf &c woodc, has the highest food valu
". per unit volume of wood, and ha
~ ~ other advantages. 1t burns evenly
~ af and, as housewives say, holds tn
4 of heat. The oaks come next, follow
o of ed by beech, birch, and maple
eon ~. Pine has relatively low heat pc
''i unit volume, but has other advar
,on tages. 1t ignites readily and give
~ ~, out quick hot flame, but one ths
10y 10y soon dies down. This makes it
. ~ favorite with rural housekeepers {
80 a summer wood, because it is pa
.a1 ms ticularly adapted for hot days
" ~, the kitchen.
4po % The qualities of chestnut adal
;nn H it particularly to work in bra
''s boundaries, where it gives just tt
required amount of heat and
therefore in fauor.
per- Coastwise vessels in Florida p;
twice as much for Florida butto
ice. wood as for any other, because
oh burns with an even heat and with
of minimum amount of smoke and as
nor The principal disadvantage of tt
resinous pines is their oily bla