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WOOD AS FUEL.
Editor Conservative :
The renewed interest in groves for
shelter and for fuel may perhaps just
ify the following article : Cnrofnl ob
servation by many parties indicate
that at the present time there is more
timber growing in the eastern counties
of the state than thirty years ago.
Whore protected from forest fires , the
native groves have been able to creep
out into the bottoms and over adja
cent bluffs. The average' Nebraska
farmer has not been attracted to lum
bering and is only from necessity a
wood-chopper. The abundant crops
of corn usually grown have often times
furnished the thrifty farmer as many
cobs as ho could conveniently use for
fuel , and the fact that lie had them
on his premises has 'led to their free
use as fuel rather than the distasteful
work of cutting trees for fuel , even
when ho had them on his own land.
While cobs are not as satisfactory fuel
to use in a cook stove in the respect
that they need to bo fed frequently ,
yet probably four-fifths of the farmers
of the state use them whenever they
have secured a com crop. The corn
shipped out of the state is shelled be
fore it is shipped and the cobs result
ing from the shelling are sold in all
the minor 'villages at from $1.40 to
$2.50 per ton.
January 8 , 1872 , the writer purchas
ed of the Burlington Railroad Com
pany , receiving fifteen years' time ,
and contracting to plant 100 acres of
orchard and timber on land purchased.
In addition to this planting , the writer
carefully protected all the native
trees which came within the limits of
the land purchased and lying on both
sides of the Blue , and also the trees
which spread up into the ravines and
over the adjacent bluffs. A portion
of this timber is now being cut and
marketed as fuel and fence posts. In
determining the comparative value of
the different kinds of wood , one with
another , Dr. Bessey , of the state uni
versity was consulted. Dr. Sargent ,
in his extended work on the forest
trees of Americagives the relative fuel
value of nearly all varieties of trees
found growing in North America.
Comparing these , one with another ,
it is found that using the well known
soft maple , uowr selling in country
towns at $4.50 per cord , composed of
three store ricks , each rick four feet
high and eight feet long , as a basis of
value , wo have the following values
per cord : Hickory , $7.18 ; oak , $6.40 ;
honey locust $6.32 ; ash , $6.05 ; sugar
maple , $5.87 ; apple , $5.87 ; elm. $5. (58 ( ;
walnut , $5. J9 ; willow , $8.89 ; catalpa ,
$3.63 ; cottouwood , $8.28.
It is interesting to notice in this
connection that iu the discussion of
this subject by highest scientific
authorities wood has value as fuel
very nearly in proportion to its specific
gravity. That is , a pound of pine has
very nearly the same heating value as
a pound of hickory. On the otl :
hand , a cord of seasoned hickory
weighs 4,200 pounds , while a 'cord of
pine or willow weighs only about
2,000 pounds. In New England , during
the writer's boyhood , each industrious
farmer always planned to cut enough
wood each winter and to store it
away under shelter where it could be
seasoned before use. Only a shiftless
provider would bo found guilty of
supplying his wife with green wood
as fuel. The importance of this is
evident when it is understood that
each 100 per cent of water or moisture
in the wood detracts 12 per cent from
its value as fuel. In the discussion
of fuel value of wood as compared
with good soft coal , it is to'be under
stood that the comparisons following
are made on the basis of dry wood.
Knowing that our professors in the
state university had given consider
able attention to the subject of fuel
value of wood , and that of corn as
compared with coal , the writer se
cured some interesting figures from
Prof. O. V. P. Stout and from Prof.
Ohatburn of the state university. In
this discussion it should bo borne in
mind that while a cord of wood nom
inally 4x4x8 contains 128 cubic feet ;
actually according to official deter
minations in Prussia , and as quoted
by United States Commissioner of For
estry B. E. Fernow.a cord of four-foot
wood contains only about 75 cubic
feet of solid wood. From various
sources Professor Ghatburu lias de
duced tl'o following statement : Tak
ing seventy-five cubic feet of solid
wood for a cord , and using Book
Springs coal as a standard for com
parison. Dry ash , weighing 8,000
pounds per cord , is equal in heating
value to 2,000 pounds of Rock Springs
coal. A cord of elm , weighing 2,550
pounds per cord , is equal to 1,680 of
Rook Springs coal. A cord of hick
ory , weighing 4,200 pounds , has the
same fuel value as 2,720 pounds of Rock
Springs coal. Changing this compar
ison to a money value , one cord of ash
equals one ton of Rock Springs coal ,
selling in most markets at $7 , and in
some at $7.50 per ton. Using this as
a standard of comparison , a four foot
cord of elm is worth $5.88 ; a cord of
oak , $7.40 ; a cord of hickory , $9.50 ;
a cord of .willow , $4.65 ; a cord pf
apple , $6.87 ; a cord of soft mapls ,
$5.20 ; and a cord of cotton wood , $8.80 ,
that is , wherever the consumer pays $7
a ton for Rock Springs coal , he can
afford to pay the above noted prices
per cord for wood , less the expense of
sawing and splitting the wood and
getting it convenient to burn.
The usual contract price of cutting
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standing timber and making it into
stove wood is $1.60 per cord of three
steve ricks , or 50 cents per stove rick
of 4x8 feet. Contractors saw four-foot
cord wood into stove lengths at 60
cents per four-foot cord.
Dr. Bessey will presently publish a
paper giving the results of his careful
observations of the amounts of fuel
that can be grown per acre in ten , fif
teen and twenty year periods. When
we consider the value of the grove in
its influence on climate and that it
may have great value as a shelter
and of the above uses "and its value as
fuel there should be a revival of interest -
terest in forest planting for shelter
and fuel. E. F. STEPHENS.
Crete , Nob. , Feb. 7 , 1902.
TRUTH.
That which is true or certain concern
ing any matter or subject , or , generally
on all subjects , is called truth. Some
facts are self-evident , needing no proof.
Generally , that which needs much proof ,
or apology , is not fact. Generally ,
verity is like a highway , so plain that
even a fool may not err therein. , ,
No one ever denied the golden rule. I
I never heard of any one trying to K
prove it. It is fundamental law. All
men agree that fundamental truth is
eternal. The facts of nature * are as
simple as , one and one and one are
three. When a proposition is hard to
understand , either it is false , or the ( |
reasonings are false. \
When we think of telegraphing across ) ' {
the Atlantic , it seems mysterious. But
if we begin right , the mystery soon un
ravels ; it is as plain as dropping pebbles
into the water. Drop a small pebble ; it
makes small waves which do not reach
the shore. If we could drop a large
enough stone , the waves would cross
the Atlantic. When we halloo , we pro
duce waves in a lighter element than
water. If our lungs were strong enough , . <
we might be heard on the other shore.
The telegrapher has succeeded in
transmitting waves in a lighter element jj |
across the Atlantic with sufficient force
to affect an instrument on this side. .
The instrument simply produces waves ,
as the pebble , but in a higher element.
Thus it is with all verified fact and all
'
successful mechanism , the elements of
simplicity.
Men have tried to invent a machine m
to run perpetually without power. We
know that there is perpetual motion ;
we see it in the movements of the plan
ets and suns. On the earth there is
friction to overcome , hence , the neoes'I (
sity for power. Ever since Darwin
wrote , men have been trying to discover
the origin of species. Any theory that
needs so much proving , is false. Among
many wise , and otherwise , sayings of
Solomon , we find , "there is nothing
new. " No one has ever disproved it. It , . .
is true , Truth never was "crushed to jjl
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