Re: MtMan-List: something different

["Roy Parker" <Roy.Parker@ix.netcom.com>]

> Date:          Thu, 03 Apr 1997 10:07:09 -0700
> From:          Forrest Smouse <forrest@ubatc.tec.ut.us>
> Organization:  Uintah Basin Applied Technology Center
> To:            hist_text@xmission.com
> Subject:       MtMan-List: something different
> Reply-to:      hist_text@xmission.com

> My wife picked up a book the other day about emergency preparedness. In
> it I found an interesting old poem. what do you all think?
> 
> anonymous
> Beechwood fires are bright and clear
> If the logs are kept a year.

IMHO, the only way to split beech when it is green is with a chain 
saw.  Let it dry a year or so, and an 8 lb maul does a fine job on it.  
Only wood, other than sycamore I found that split better dry than 
wet.   When I lived in Ohia (that's how natives pronounce it) I got 
in 6 cords/year, so speak with a tad of experience.

> Chestnut only good, they say,
> If for long 'tis laid away.
Too rare to burn for firewood anymore....

> But ash new or ash old
> Is fit for queen with crown of gold.
> 
> Birch and fir logs burn to fast,
> Blaze up bright and do not last.
> It isby the Irish said
> Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
> Elm wood burns like churchyard mold,
> E'en the very flames are cold.

My uncle once told me the only thing elm was good for was sled 
runners and curing toothaches.  He was right.

> But ash green or ash brown
> Is fit for queen with golden crown.
> 
> Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
> Fills your eyes and makes you choke.
> Apple wood will scent your room
> With an incense like perfume.
> Oaken logs, if dry and old,
> Keep away the winter's cold.
> But ash wet or ash dry,
> A king shall warm his slippers by.
> 
> There alot of true in this.

Yep, but hickory was left out.  It's the best I've seen for heat 
value, and is relatively easy to split when green.  A buddy of mine 
moved to Montana some xx years ago, and lamented about the poor fires 
from pine and white birch.  So I sent him two Fed Express packages of 
dry hickory for his birthday one December.  He said the natives were 
astounded at how much heat one log could put out.  Not to mention the 
subtle flavor it adds to grilled meat!

Nice post.
Roy Parker, rparker7@ix.netcom.com, regardless
of what Netcom puts in the "reply to" field....
Buckskinner, Brewer, and semi-Handyman
Booshway, 1998 Original SW Reg'l. Rendezvous
Houston, TX, home of the annual Humidity Festival
rparker7@ix.netcom.com