WOODLAND WORK AND WORKING PLANS 191 



ingredient of the old black powder which fought our battles 

 by sea and land in the days of Nelson and Marlborough, 

 and with which the old-fashioned sportsman of a century 

 back did his day's shooting. In fact, charcoal was as 

 indispensable in domestic circles and for manufacturing 

 purposes up to two or three hundred years ago as coal is 

 to-day and electricity will be to-morrow. 



The modern use of charcoal is now, however, extremely 

 limited, hot- water pipes and gas stoves having taken its 

 place in most of the country houses in which its use lingered 

 until quite recently. In the manufacture of steel, it is, 

 however, still used to supply the carbon which is an essential 

 element in the process, and most of the charcoal burnt in 

 the Midlands goes for this purpose. 



The charcoal burner is one of the least common of the 

 woodland artisans at the present day. In most districts he 

 has died out altogether, and where he still remains his 

 services are required in various parts of the country more 

 or less distant from his native spot. Charcoal burners are 

 born rather than made. To live for several months on end 

 within a few feet of a heap of dry, black, powdery dust, 

 which penetrates through every thread of clothing, to snatch 

 a few hours' fitful sleep in an extemporised hovel, without a 

 change of clothes, much less linen, and to remain day after 

 day enveloped in a dusty coating, perfect enough for the 

 equipment of a nigger minstrel, are not ideal conditions of 

 life for even low-paid rural labourers. 



But, apart from the dirty nature of the work, it requires 

 an apprenticeship of considerable length before a man can 

 call himself an expert. He may study the arrangement of 

 the blocks in the oven or hearth with the greatest care, 

 watch the operation day after day, and note the smallest 

 detail, yet, when he comes to perform the work unaided by 

 the old master, there is usually something lacking in his 

 methods. His fire either burns too fast in one place or 

 too slow in another, or the wood bursts into flame when 

 the fire is " drawn," or something else happens to prevent 

 the quantity of properly burnt charcoal being made from 

 the wood supplied. Yet an expert charcoal burner will 

 turn out thirty-six bushels of charcoal from one cord of any 



