Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

THE CAMP-FIRE 237Green wood burns best in autumn and winter,when the sap is down. Trees that grow onhigh, dry ground burn better than those of thesame species that stand in moist soil. Chestnutcut on the summits of the Appalachians burnsfreely, even when green, and the mountain beechburns as ardently as birch. Green wood growingalong a river bank is very hard to burn.Spitfire Woods.— Arbor-vitae (northern ''whitecedar") and chestnut burn to dead coals that donot communicate flame. They, as well as box elder,red cedar, hemlock, sassafras, tulip, balsam, tamarack,and spruce, make a great crackling and snappingin the fire. All of the soft pines, too, areprone to pop. Certain hardwoods, such as sugarmaple, beech, white oak, and sometimes hickory,must be watched for a time after the fire is started,because the embers that they shoot out are longlived,and hence more dangerous than those of softwoods;but they are splendid fuel, for all that.Stubborn Woods.— The following woods arevery hard to split: Blue ash, box elder, buckeye,cherry, white elm, winged elm, sour gum, hemlock(generally), liquidambar (sweet gum), honeylocust, sugar maple, sycamore, tupelo. Some woods,however, that are stubborn when seasoned arereadily split when green, such as hickory, beech,dogwood, sugar maple, birch, and slippery elm.The Best Fuel.—Best of all northern firewoodsis hickory, green or dry. It makes a hotfire, but lasts a long time, burning down to a bedof hard coals that keep up an even, generous heatfor hours. Hickory, by the way, is distinctly anAmerican tree; no other region on earth produces it.The live oak of the South is most excellent fuel,50 is holly. Foliow^ing the hickory, in fuel value,^re chestnut oak, overcup, white, blackjack, post^nd basket oaks, pecan, the hornbeams (ironwoods),and dogwood. The latter burns finally to a beautifulwhite ash that is characteristic; apple wood