The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1917-11-01
THE FUEL VALUE OF WOOD

Washington, Oct. 29-Persons VIII
plan to relieve the coal shortage thi
winter by burning wood can figure
roughly speaking, that two pounds o
seasoned wood have fuel value equa
to one pound Of coal, according to ex
perts of the Forets Service. Will
different kinds of wood have differen
fuel values, the foresters say that il
general the greater the dry weight o.
a non-resinous wood, the more heat il
will give out when burned.
For such species as hickory, oak
beech, birch, hard maple, ash, locust
longleaf pine or cherry, which have
comparatively high fuel values, one
cord, weighing about 1000 pounds, is
required to equal one ton Of coal.
1t takes cord and half of short
leaf pine ,hemlock, red gum, Douglas
fir, sycamore, or soft maple, which
weighs about 5000 pounds cord, to
equal ton of coal, while for cedar
redwood, poplar, catalpa, Norway
pine, cypress, basswood, spruce and
white pine, two cords, weighing about
1000 pounds each, are required.
Weight for weight, however, there
is very little difference between vari-
GUS species. Resin affords about twice
as much heat as wood, so that resin
Gus woods have greater heat value
per pound than non-resinous woods,
and this Increased value varies, of
course, with the resin content.
The available heat value of cord
of wood depends also on the amount
of moisture present. When the wood
is green part of the heat which it is
capable of yielding is taken up in
evaporating the water. The greater
amount Of water in the wood the more
heat is lost.
Furthermore, cords vary as to the
amount of solid wood they contain,
even when they are of the standard
dimension and occupy 1913 cubic feet
Of space. A certain proportion of this
space is made up of air spaces be-
tween the sticks, and this air space
may be considerable in a cord of
twisted, crooked, and knotty sticks.
Out Of 1913 cubic feet, fair average
Of solid wood is about 80 cubic feet.
This, however applies tothe stand
ard cord, in which sticks are cut TO
'our-foot lengths and piled four feet
high and eight feet long. Instead of
'uying the four-foot lengths, however,
most people nowadays have sticks
ut into twofoot lengths by gasolene
Jaw. This results in saving of both
ime and labor. The purchaser should,
however, take care to see that he gets
ull measurement when wood is
fought in this way. In parts of New
England a stack of 16-inch wood four
eet high and eight feet long is com
monty sold as a "run," but contains
My one-third Of cord.
Where wood is to be burned in a
tove or furnace intended for coal, it
nil be found desirable, the foresters
ay, to cover the crate partly with
heet iron or fire brick. in order TO re-
uce the draught. If this is not done
re wood is wasted by being consumed
% fast, and makes a very hot fire
hich in a furnace may damage the
re box.
II is pointed out, however, that heat ,
alue is not the only test of usefulness s
fuel wood and since 95 per cent of ,
| wood used for fuel is consumed for {
,mestic purposes, largely in farm
,uses, such factors as rapidity Of
irning and ease Of lighting are i'm I
,rtant. Each section Of the country e
rs it's favored woods and these are
i'd TO be, in general, the right ones r
use. Hickory, Of the non-resinous d
oods. has the highest fuel value per Q
lit volume, but have other adyant- q