126 USE OP CHARCOAL IN IRON MANUFACTURE. 



is cheapest and best. Ilavo made some in brick ovens, but it was no better and much 

 more expensive, on account of hauling wood instead of coal. The yield is about 1,400 

 bushels to the acre. About 10,440 acres would yield a permanent sflpply if no acci- 

 dent, such as fires, happened to the growing timber. Many furnaces in Kentucky have 

 large tracts of woodland for growing new supplies. They are cut off once in 28 to 30 

 years. 



3, 4, 5. Reported by the same agent. The kinds of timber used are black oak, chiefly ; 

 white oak, poplar, and pine in small quantities. Second-growth oak malies coal of 

 best quality. About 1,400 bushels of coal are got from an acre. Probably 25,000 acres 

 of timber would furnish a permanent supply for two furnaces of ordinary capacity, say 

 3,000 tons a year. Lands not specially reserved for another growth, the tendency be- 

 ing to clear and cultivate after cutting off first crop of timber. A second growth would 

 be fit to cut in 20 years. 



[The statistics of Savage Furnace, Kentucky, which may be taken as a representa- 

 tive instance in Eastern Kentucky, show a consumption of about 12,000 cords a year 

 for an average blast of a little over 3,000 tons of iron. Allowing 30 to 35 cords of wood 

 to the acre, this would give a decrease of forest area of 350 to 400 acres. From the best 

 information obtained in this furnace region, it appears that from 23 to 25 years' growth 

 is required to give an average of 30 to 35 cords, and that a tract of 9,000 to 10,000 

 acres is sufficient for the maintenance of a charcoal-furnace of this capacity with a 

 perpetual supply. — (A. R. Crandall:' Report on Forests of Greenup, Carter, Boyd, and 

 Lawrence Counties, Ky., p. 22.)] 



6. Pine wood and slabs, hemlock, tamarack, and black ash used for making char- 

 coal. About 1,000 bushels, or 25 cords, are made from an acre. 



7. Black, white, and post oak used for coal. Black oak is the best. An acre will 

 yield about 1,000 bushels. From 40,000 to 50,000 acres would keep a furnace perma- 

 nently supplied. Timber grows very slowly on uplands in this region (Phelps County, 

 Kentucky), and cannot bo cut for coaling before it is 50 years old. 



8. Timber principally white and black oak, with some hickory, all making good hard 

 coal for smelting purposes. About 700 bushels of coal are made per acre. The timber 

 being small and of slow growth, 30,000 acres would probably be required to keep a 

 furnace permanently supplied. More than half the land in this region is good for 

 nothing except for growing timber. No second growth has been cut, and it would 

 probably require 30 years for it to become large enough for profitable cutting. 



9. Beech, maple, birch, and hemlock mostly used for charcoal. Hard woods are 

 worth one-quarter more than soft. Both kinds are used mixed. An acre will yield 

 1,500 bushels, and 60,000 acres would supply the works permanently. About 30,000 

 acres are reserved, and a new growth may be cut in from 15 to 20 years. 



10. Maple, beech, birch, hemlock, spruce, and other woods common to the country 

 are used. Maple and birch deemed best, as far as economy in making is concerned, 

 but when quality of iron is considered, a mixture of hard and soft wood coal is pre- 

 ferred. Their values are about as 10 to 8. Timber-lands yield about 2,500 bushels to 

 the acre. They do not grow timber suitable for charcoal the second time, as they come 

 up in wild cherry, and many years are required for other timber to work its way in. 

 About 30 years would be required for a growth worth cutting. 



11. Beech, birch, maple, poplar, spruce, and pine, yielding 1,000 bushels to the acre. 

 A tract of 13,500 acres would furnish a permanent supply, and a new growth would he 

 fit for coaling in 25 years. 



12. Beech, birch, poplar, and spruce used, yielding from 1,000 to 1,500 bushels to the 

 acre. Some lands, not fit for farming purposes, reserved for timber growth. 



13. Chestnut, oak, hickory, birch, &c., lised. The coal from these shows the same 

 difference in quality as when the woods are burned in a stove. The first growth yields 

 35 to 40 cords per acre, the second growth 10 to 40. Two cords and a half make 100 

 bushels of coal. The wood for coaling is cut off at from 15 to 40 years of age. 



14. The company has 14,400 acres of land, and produce all the materials of which 

 our iron is made. Running lightly for last three years, but when in full blast use 

 about 12,000 cords at each of two furnaces. All kinds of wood used, but chestnut or 

 rock oak preferred. Yellow pine and poplar make the best yield. The gases utilized 

 for making steam and heating the hot blast, but distilled jiroducts not saved. A cord 

 will make 40 bushels, or about 1,600 bushels to the acre. Lands allowed to grow up 

 again, which they readily do, and at 20 years of age will make a cord of wood to the 

 acre .annually, but at 15 years would not produce more than 10 cords. At 30 years 

 can get 30 cords of better wood for coal than was obtained at the first cutting. 



1,5. Maple, chestnut, oak, birch, and hickory. Second growth of maple, chestnut, 

 and oak preferred to hickory, as the latter makes so much heat that it crumbles or 

 breaks too fine. An acre yields 900 bushels. Being at the foot of the Blue Ridge, the 

 broken land reserved for timber is large. When cut, it is allowed to sprout from the 

 stump, and in 20 to 25 years is ready for cutting. Land that has been cleared would 

 require nearly double the time for growing a crop fit for cutting. 



16. Oak and white and yellow pine, with some maple and a little beech, get, on an 



