252 Practical Forestry 



within the scope of the forester, special attention will be 

 devoted to the major by-products firewood, charcoal, 

 bark and faggots with which the British forester is most 

 intimately associated. 



(1) Firewood. Never, perhaps, was the subject of 

 English firewood more worthy of consideration than at the 

 present time, when the price of other fuels is excessively 

 high. Many persons will maintain that in districts where 

 coal is abundant, it is very questionable whether there is 

 any advantage to be obtained from burning wood. We 

 have satisfied ourselves that even if wood could be procured 

 at less than its present price firewood price it is nearly as 

 expensive as coal, as sold previous to the war, in most of our 

 large towns. No doubt, on many large estates where there is 

 a superfluity of unsaleable wood, it would be utter folly not 

 to have it converted into firewood, more particularly as 

 such work gives employment to the woodmen when the 

 inclemency of the weather puts a stop to general outdoor 

 work. But this in itself is no proof that the firewood when 

 prepared and ready for the grate is not as expensive as 

 coal ; for, when the rent of ground on which the wood was 

 grown, and the cost of felling and converting it into firewood 

 is taken into account, it will be found nearly as costly as 

 household coal of ordinary quality. 



What will it cost to prepare a ton of firewood 1 This is 

 a question that is not readily answered, the cost of labour 

 in various parts of the country varying so widely. In 

 England, generally speaking, the cutting up and stacking 

 of a cord of fairly clean firewood that is to say when 

 large knotty pieces, which require the mallet and wedge 

 for their manipulation, are excluded costs from 5s. to Qs. 

 Again, how many cords of wood will make a ton of firewood ? 

 This is another question that is more readily asked than 

 answered, for the difference in weight between equal-sized 

 logs of, say, oak and birch is considerable. For all practical 

 purposes, however, we may state that about one and a half 

 cords of wood go to the ton of firewood, thus making the 

 cost of preparing and housing the latter about 10s. The 

 lowest price at which we have sold a ton weight fresh cut 



