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AND H O R T I C U L T U K A L REGISTER. 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Aqhioultusal Waeehouse.)— ALLEN PUTNAM, EDITOR. 



VOL,. XIX.] 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 20, 1841. 



[KO. 89. 



N. E. FARMER 



FUEL. 



Economy of Fuel. — We have examined, with in- 

 terest, a small work, detailing " E.xperimenls to de- 

 termine the comparative quantity of hi'at evolved 

 in the combustion of the principal varieties of wood 

 and coal used in the United State.s for fuel ; and 

 also to determine the comparative quantity of heat 

 lost by the ordinary apparatus made use of for their 

 conihustion. — By Marcus Bull." 



Tlio experiments seem to have been made with 

 great care and accuracy, and the results afford niat- 

 ter of interest to every householder. 



Mr Bull has computed the cost of fuel consmaed 

 in Philadelphia, in a given year, to be $80,04:3, 

 which being divided among the population, gives 

 $7 04 as the average cost of fuel to each inhabi- 

 tant, supposing the consumption to be equal. A- 

 doptiug this estimate as a fair average for the pop- 

 ulation within ten miles of tide-water, in the 

 Atlantic States, from Maine to Georgia, it gives an 

 aggregate of twentyiuie millions of dollars as the 

 annii.il cost of fuel for this portion of population, 

 which is assumed to amount to three millions and 

 a half of our population at half the above price, or 

 $3 .50 to each individual, he gives us an aggregate 

 amount of about fiftyone millions of dollars as the 

 total annual expense of fuel for every purpose in 

 the United States. 



'I'he economy of fuel is to be studied — 1, in the 

 kind to be selected for use ; 2, in its quality and 

 preparation for use ; and 15, in the choice of the 

 apparatus in which it is to be used. 



In regard to wood. — The quantity of heat evolv- 

 ed by a cubic foot of the several kinds, when in a 

 perfectly dry state, is very nearly in the ratio of 

 their specific gravity, or relative weight, as fur ex- 

 ample, the specilic gravity of shell-bark hickory 

 being 1.000, a cord weighs 4,4tJ9 lbs.; by the same 

 scale, the speciiic gravity of white pine is .470, and 

 the cord weighs only ],Sii8 lbs. The quantity of 

 heat evolved by a pound of while pine is as groat 

 ns that evolved by a pound of hickory. The diffe- 

 renci! in value arises from the great disparity in 

 weio'ht — the hickory weighing as 29, and the pine 

 as 9 — and their relative value being hickory 100, 

 white pine 42 — or the first being considerably 

 more than twice as valuable as the latter. 



Cliurcoal forms a considerable item of fuel; and 

 the facts which Mr Bull has given "s upon this 

 subject will be found to be new and interesting. 

 The value of charcoal, like that of wood, is princi- 

 pally to be determined by it.s weight — a pound from 

 one kind of wood affording about as much heat as 

 a pound from another kind. The quantity, or rath- 

 er weight, of charcoal, afforded by the different 

 kinds of wood, is nearly in proportion to the rela- 

 tive weight of the wood. Thus hickory produces 

 26.2i, the specific gravity of the dry coal being 

 .625; while the white piue produces 24.35, and 

 the specific gravity of the dry coal being only .298. 

 ■ Thus, whether burnt in the form of wood or of 

 charcoal, a cord of hickory affords more than twice 



the heat that is found in a cord of white pine. The 

 value of charcoal, however, depends much upon 

 the manner in which it is prepared. The more 

 completely the atmospheric air is excluded from 

 the wood, while under the process of being charred, 

 and the more heat that is given to it, the henrier, 

 the harder, and the better will be the product. — 

 The best charcoal will be found of a slate color 

 on its surface, dense, sonorous and brittle ; while 

 inferior qualities approach to a |et black, and are 

 soft and powdery, upon the exterior. To obtain 

 the best quality, Mr Bull recommends that the wood 

 be piled in a single tier, that charcoal dust ho in- 

 terposed between the wood, that the pile be cov- 

 ered with clay, and then a layer of sand, to close 

 tlio cracks which ihe fire may cause in the clay, 

 and that the fire be communicated at the exterior 

 base, and in the centre and from the top. An in- 

 telligent collier, who partially adopted Mr Bull's 

 recommendation, gained by it 10 per cent, in quan- 

 tity by measure, and Mr B. found the coal nearly 

 20 per cent, heavier than usual. If these facts are 

 correct, and we have no reason to doubt them, it 

 would be an excellent police regulation in our 

 towns, to have charcoal sold by the weight, in- 

 stead of by measure, and would ultimately be bene- 

 ficial to the seller as well as to the buyer. 



'i'he loss in weight which wood undergoes in 

 dri'ing, and the moisture which it absorbs, by ex- 

 posure, after it has become dry, are matters of con- 

 siderable interest to the farmer and the consumer. 

 Hickory wood cut green and made absolutely dry, 

 experienced a diminution in its weight of .37 1-2 

 per cent., white oak lost 41 per cent., and soft ma- 

 ple 48 per cent., or very near one half. Both 

 wood anil charcoal, after being made perfectly dry, 

 absorbed in twelve months under cover, from 8 to 

 12 per cent, of moisture. 



If we assume, says Mr B., the mean quantity of 

 moisture in the woods when green, at 42 per cent., 

 the great disadvantage of attempting to burn wood 

 in this state, (or transport it at a distance,) must be 

 obvious, as in every 100 pounds of this compound 

 of wood and water, 42 pounds of aqueous matter 

 must be expelled from the wood, (or transported ;) 

 and as the capacity of water for absorbing heat is 

 as 4 to 1, when compared with air, and probably 

 greater during its conversion into vapor, which 

 must be effected before it can escape, the loss of 

 heat must consequently be great. 



[From the table given by Mr Bull, we extract 

 the following, showing the value of the different 

 kinds of wood in most common use.] 



Specific gramly of Avoirdupois lbs. of 



dry wood. dry wood in a cord 



White ash, .772 3.450 



White beech, .734 3.236 



Black birch, .697 3.115 



Chestnut, ..522 2..333 



White elm, .580 2.592 



Shell-bark hickory, l.tlOO 4.469 



Pig-nut hickory, .949 4.241 



Red heart hickory, .829 .3.705 



Hard maple, .644 2.876 



Soft maple, .597 



White oak, .855 

 Shell bark white oak, .775 



Red oak, .728 



Pitch pine, .426 



W hite |)iiie, .418 



Lombardy poplar, .-397 



2.G68 

 3.821 

 3.464 

 3.254 

 1.9114 

 1.868 

 1.774 



The relative value per cord of the above woods 

 is given in Mr Bull's table, from which it appears 

 that if hickory is worth one dollar, pig nut hickory 

 is worth 95 cents, hard maple 60 cents, white oak 

 81 cents, white pine 42 cents, pilch pine 43 cents, 

 &c. 



Economy of Burning. — Mr Bull's experiments 

 were made in a sheet iron stove, with 42 feet of 

 two inch pipe, having about 20 elbows. A ther- 

 mometer placed at the mouth of this pipe indicated 

 the same temperature as another hung against the 

 wall of the room, which showed that all the heat 

 given off by the combustion of the fuel, was retain- 

 ed in the room. On the supposition that 100 lbs. 

 of fuel consumed in this stove, would maintain a 

 temperature of 60 degrees fi)r 12 hours, he found, 

 that to maintain the like temperature for the same 

 time by other apparatus, the fuel must be increased 



as follows : 



/6s. 

 In the experiment stove it required 100 



In the sheet iron cylinder stove, the interior 

 surface coated with clay lute, with 9 el- 

 bow joints, and 13 1-2 feet of 2 inch pipe, 105 

 In a like stove and pipe, with 3 elbow joints, 122 

 In a like stove, and similar pipe and joints, 

 but the pipe placed more vertical than the 

 preceding, y^^j 



In a like stove, with 5 feet of pipe and one 



elbow 149 



In a like stove, without clay lute, one elbow, 



and five feet of four inch pipe, 222 



In an open Franklin, with one elbow, and 5 



feet of six inch pipe, 270 



In an open ordinary parlor grate, .555 



In an open chimney fire place, 1,000 



It would seem from these experiments, that nine 

 tenths of the heat given off by fuel burnt in an or- 

 dinary fire-place, are carried off in the draft, with- 

 out benefiting tlie room; that nearly one half is 

 wasted when the fuel is consumed in an open par- 

 lor grate, and that lining a stove with fire brick or 

 clay lute, produces a great economy in fuel. 



The experiments afford important suggestions to 

 the housekeeper. Assuming as data, that four 

 cords of dry shell-bark hickory, burnt in a sheet 

 iron cylinder stove, with five feet of pipe and one 

 elbow, will warm an ordinary room during the win- 

 ter months, it will require to keep up the like tem- 

 perature, in a similar stove, the following quanti- 

 ties of other materials : 



Hickory, as stated, 4 cords. 



White oak, 4 3-4 ' 



Hard maple, 6 2-3 ' 



Soft maple, 7 1-5 ' 



Pitch pine, •) 1-7 ' 



White pine, 9 1-5 ' 



Anthracite coal, 4 tons. 



[Jlbany Cult. 



