Logs to Burn

[asbean]

Saw this poem in a pub today, and googled and found it, don't know where it came from, as it's uncredited, but I liked it.  I guess it must be good advice.

"Logs to burn"

Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnut's only good they say,
If for logs 'tis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold.

Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last,
it is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold
But Ash green or Ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown.

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
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.

[asbean]

[betula]

I like that. :)

[mergles]

 Hi asbean,
I have just completed a Forest Schools training course, where the instructor had included a similar poem in her handouts.
It's just common sense really - different woods burn differently - chestnut, beech and oak  (all slow growing trees)  are better stored before burning as the wood contains quite a bit of moisture which needs to evaporate. Elder is very pithy and contains huge amounts of moisture, so spits a great deal, hence (traditionally) the risk of sparks, and fire spreading. Apple and pear wood both smell wonderful as they burn, but the best firewood is ash - it burns steadily without spitting or flaring, and gives off a good deal of heat and light (important in the days before electricity)  - hence it is fit for a king to burn.
It works too: we tried building fires with lots of different woods, and everybody agreed that ash made the best fire.

[asbean]

Yes, it really does make sense.  I bet your course was really interesting, how long was it?  Do you work with trees?  What other interesting things did you learn?

Lots of questions, sorry I'm curious  :) :) :) :) :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

You can shave green ash sticks thinly (you need a sharp lopper for this) and light them with a match.

[Good Gourd 2]

In the summer I heard that burning a log is less harmfull to the environment than letting it lay and rot.  anyone else heard this. 

[Robert_Brenchley]

I don't see why.

[davyw1]

Wood smoke contains almost no sulphur dioxide and very little in the way of nitrous oxides. It also only releases the amount of carbon dioxide that it absorbed when it was growing

[asbean]

Ah, but if it's left to rot all the little creepy crawlies are able to burrow and nest in it and eventually it rots down to make compost  :) :) :) :) :) :)

[Emagggie]

I actually posted this two weeks ago in the Shed. ???

[asbean]

Gosh - so you did!  Sorry about that, Emaggie, I must have missed that post. It was just that I'd been out to lunch in a lovely country pub and it was up on the wall and I liked it so much I had to share it!!!

:-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[

[Emagggie]

That's ok Asbean, glad it got a second airing.  ;D
It's been lurking in our family for a while, don't know from whence it came though.