315 
COMPARATIVE VALUE OF WOOD. 
The following seasonable advice is from an American paper : — 
Wood that is intended for fuel should be cut in the winter, as it 
contains less sap than in the spring, and will season quicker. The sooner 
it is converted into stove wood after being cut from the stump the less 
work will be required, for it is well known that seasoned timber is 
harder to saw and split than green. The best way to store it for seasoning 
is to pile it under cover ; it will do very well to cord it out of doors 
and if merely thrown together in a large pile it will wet in but little, 
though from the greater amount exposed on the ground and outside this 
is more wasteful than the other methods. It does not seem a good plan 
for farmers to cut more wood into cord length than in the course of the 
winter and spring they can convert into a size fit for the stove. 
And the time has come when it pays to cull the forest. Save the 
timber. Use up first the dead and fallen trees ; cut the crooked, worth- 
less saplings ; thin out where too thick, and by this treatment the tim- 
ber lot will improve in value. Be careful, also, in felling large trees, 
not to injure the valuable undergrowth beneath and near them. Many 
of our most useful kinds of timber throw up numerous thrifty sprouts 
from the stump after being cut — chestnut for example. These should 
be cared for — thinned — and in a remarkably short time several trees, 
large enough for stakes or posts, will replace the parent. 
Nearly all the work that pertains to preparing wood for fuel is 
laborious. It takes strong muscle to swing the axe and fell the king of 
the forest ; but it requires more endurance to work steadily the buck- 
saw. It pays to work the wood into suitable size for handling readily, 
and then saw it with horse-power. One machine will answer for a 
neighbourhood, and can be moved easily. When large trees are to be 
cut up, two men with a cross-cut saw can take off lengths for a stove 
rapidly, and these can be easily split with an axe. 
Although it will not be good economy for a farmer to pick his fuel 
from his wood lot, merely with regard to its good qualities as fuel, yet 
it may be interesting to know the relative value of different kinds of 
American wood for burning purposes. We subjoin a table from the 
best authorities : — 
1. 
2. 
Shellbark or Hickory . 
. 1-000 
1-00 
White-Ash . 
. -772 
•97 
Apple .... 
. -697 
•70 
White Beech . 
. 724 
•65 
Chestnut . . . . 
. -522 
•52 
Pignut Hickory 
. *949 
•95 
Red Heart Hickory 
. -829 
•81 
Hard Maple . 
. -644 
•60 
Soft Maple . 
. -597 
•54 
VOL. VI. 
K 
