The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-12-05
IMPORTANT CONFERENCE
ON FUEL TOMORROW
~ .,
Chairman and Railroad Operators
to Assemble Here.
MUST UsE MORE WOOD
virginia. Both Urban and Rural, Must
Make Larger Use of THIS Fuel II
Coal Situation Does Not Improve
Soon.

The council % defense is convinced
.f.1t the pc Of ~, state. espt.'i;l'
Nv In the rural districts and in the
smaller communities, will have to
depend on wood for fuel to 4 consid-
cradle extent unless there should be
very unexpected improvement in the
coal situation.
The council has arranged a meeting
for tomorrow between Harry Flood
Byrd. federal fuel administrator for
Virginia President l.. f. Johnson, of
the Norfolk and Western railway;
General r. W Nichols, superintendent
Of the Virginia Military institute and
chairman of the council of defense;
and the chief operating and traffic Of
ficials of the Norfolk and Western. the
virginian and the Chesa peaks ana
Ohio. Al this conference there Will
be q thorough investigation OF the
whole fuel question especially as il
affects the railroads and the govern
meut. To understand this. II Is be
lieyed. In the first step in really md -
ing nleang o. relief for the public
The Virginia council gave out a
statement yesterday sum ming up some
facts about the relative fuel value OF
wood and coal. ami also concerning
the available supply OF wood. Inc
statement il in part as follows:
In answer 10 the first question Il
NAV be said that the fuel value Of
wood is proportional TO its weight, the
{ hickory and
1 furnishing more heat per cord than
the lighter woods as poplar and pine
The res,nous woods furnish slightly
more heat per unit Of weight than the
I uon-resinous woods and have The aG-
ditionaI advantage or isnttins more
res div and burning more rapidly %het
quick ERE is demanded. This latter
! property IT. however, disadvantage
When 4 SLOW IRE "a desired A mix
! tuve Of pine and OAK Is therefore. Il
be preferred for ordinary domestic
I purposes.
1T has been estimated by experts
that on the average about cord anf
. half Of good dr. wood is equal if
fuel value to ton of coal. The woof
has the disadvantage of being NOR
bulky and requiring more frequent re
pienishtng TO keep a fire going. TIL
question is whether or not the suppI
of wood is adequate TO meet the ae
mands
1t may be answered that the pres
/ snt supply is quite sufficient, but, i
the coal shortage. and conseQuen
I greater demand for WOOD should b
long continued, the supply would il
lime become exhausted
Can our forests he made 10 Well
srvsster sf-etlt9 az Most assursdly tins.
m p. ra TAtir4rtFin n @@ian
ti7c toresty to them. just rs our field
! can be made to produce better crop
by using improved methods OF agri
culture. One would not expect 8 nel'
TO produce satisfactory crop of cot
ton or corn or oats Il left entirely 4
itself, but that is precisely what "
do with our forests We slash them L
at will and expect them to reprodue
themselves and care for thenselve
and furnish us all our wood and tim
Der. Up to this time they have bee
J able 10 meet this exactlng demand b
reason OF their great acreage, but I'll
time has come when more intenstv
! methods must be applied. or else thei
: production will he cut down.
The experience OF older eountrie
! LIS interesting in this connection. TIL
Sihiwald, a forest belonging to Zurich
Switzerland. has been under fores
management for more than b thous
and years, and during all that tim
J has given good annual returns and to
day liz In better condition than at tn
beginning The forests OF Saxon
have under skilled forestry. been mad
to increase their yield SO per cent, an
there Ia no reason why similar result
cannot be obtained in Virginia. tn
deed even better results. by reason c
: our favorable soil, climate and rapid
growing varieties of trees"