Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 54, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 October 1917 — WOOD AS FUEL [ARTICLE]

WOOD AS FUEL

The campaign recently started by the Indiana, forestry board to encourage the use of wood as fuel is apparently spreading. The New York state college of forestry is advising residents of that state-, to clean up the wood lots, cut out dead and crooked wood and make use of it as fuel. It believes, with the Indiana board, that not enough wood is being used as fuel and that m'uch of it is being let go to waste. Wood is cheap fuel just now as compared with coal, and even if the farmer were paid considerably more for it than he -has ordinarily been paid the saving tc the consumer would be worth while.

Farmers might find it greatly to their advantage to consider the possibilities of the woodlot. A wagon load of wood gathered from the waste in his lot might be as profitable as a wagon load of ordinary farm produce, when expenses of production and time expended are taken into account. And by supplying city consumers with fuel he will be doing a patriotic service in two ways, first, by adding to the available supply of gravely needed fuel and, second, by relieving the railroads to that extent from the transportation of coal and releasing equipment for the movemen 1 of other freight of national importance-. ' ’’

The coal shortage is turning the attention of other countries to. the bi wood as fuel. A recent issue of the Commerce Reports states that the use of wood in place of coal in Argentina is assuming important proportions and is contributing a good share to the railway traffic of the province of Santa Fe. One railway is reported to have transported 150,000 tons of wood ’in June, and so general is the turning to wood for fuel that one railroad has been obliged to warn shippers not to contract for larger quantities' than the facilities of the road can accommodate. We have a lot of waste wootj in Indiana Which might similarly be put to work. What gits us is how a football player is goin’ t’ explain why he isn’ in th* army. “Th’ hardest thing,” said Mrs. Lase Bud t’day, ‘‘is tryin’ t’ think o’ somethin’ fer supper your husband didn’ have fer lunch.”—Abe Martin.