The Sachse Sentinel (Sachse, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 2, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 1, 1984 Page: 13 of 20
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COLLECTING, STORING AND BURNING FIREWOOD
According to Stacy Reese,
Dallas County Extension
Agent-Horticulture, approx-
imately 25 percent of Texas'
4.9 million households bum
wood. The average Texas
family burns just over one cord
each year, totaling almost one
d one-third million cords per
:ar for the entire state.
People need to know how
much firewood they are actual-
ly buying. Mr. Reese says a
cord is the accepted (and in
some places the only legal) unit
of measurement. The standard
cord is a well-stacked pile of
wood cut into 4-foot lengths
and stacked 4 feet high by 8
feet long or 128 cubic feet. This
results in a volume of actual
wood of 80 cubic feet with the
rest being air space between the
pieces of wood. Since home-
owners seldom can use wood
in 4-foot lengths, it often is
sold by the face cord or frac-
tion of a face cord. A face cord
is a pile of wood 4 feet high
and 8 feet long and cut to any
length, generally about 16 to 18
inches. Most advertisements
are the price per face cord. A
pick-up truck (normal size) will
normally hold about a third of
a standard cord or about one
face cord of wood, he adds.
He suggests stacking the wood
so you can estimate how much
wood you have purchased.
Multiply the length by width
by height in feet and divide by
128 to find what portion of a
standard cord you received.
For example: A stack 8 feet
long by 4 leet high by 18 inches
long would be a third of a stan-
dard cord jr a typical face
cord. (4'x 8" x 1.5" = 48 Cu.
Ft.: 48 -r 128 = .37 cord.)
When buying wood to burn
immediately, make sure it is
dry. Mr. Reese says the best
thing to do is buy wood that
lias been cut during the fall or
winter the season before, since
it will be dry enough to burn
the folowing winter. This also
allows for the wood to dry out
enough by spring to discourage
many of the wood-infesting in-
sects.
A standard cord of wood
provides as much heat as a ton
of coal, 160 gallons of fuel oil
or 24,000 cubic feet of natural
gas. Woods vary in their rela-
tive heat value which makes
Cjcm suitable for use in the
•replace. The higher the heat
value the better the wood in
general, he adds. The follow-
ing table gives the relative heat
value of various species of
wood grown in Texas:
Relative heat values of
selected woods:
Very High: Live Oak,
Osage-orange, Hickory,
IXigwood, Pecan, and White
Oak.
High: Water Hickory, Mes-
quite, Red Oak, and Beech.
Medium: Ash, Elm,
Walnut, Birch, Cherry, Soft
Maple, Sycamore and Sweet-
gum.
Low: Cottonwood and
Willow.
Also consider splitting,
amount of smoke produced,
and the amount of popping
and sparking. Osage-orange,
Elm, Sycamore and Sweetgum
are hard to split. Southern
Pines tend to have heavy
smoke and eastern Redcedar
and Mesquite tend to spark
and pop.
After purchasing the wood
store it outdoors as far away
from the house as possible.
Commercially available racks
are useful in keeping wood off
the ground; thus eliminating a
nice home for insects, he adds.
Stack firewood so that it dries
quickly. Alternating rows of
wood in a stack allows air
movement and drying. This
also permits easier access by
parasites and predators of
many of the inhabitants of
stored firewood. Do not spray
firewood with insecticides. Mr.
Reese says this is not a safe
practice and will not result in
any measurable control. Most
insects inhabiting firewood live
in the wood or between the
wood-bark interface. Insec-
ticidal sprays seldom, if ever,
reach these places. It may be
necessary occasionally to treat
the soil under and around
stacks of firewood to prevent
insects from inhabiting these
sites.
UP-DATE ON ACADEMIC COACH
PROGRAM PRESENTED
IK
1FAC
Go-Carts
Mini-Bikes
NEW & USED
Dr. Jill Shugart, assistant
superintendent for Educational
Operations, reported that the
first year of the academic
coaching program is quite suc-
cessful. There are 882 elemen-
tary students enrolled in
courses, which are being taught
by 13 coaches who are also full
time classroom teachers; ano-
ther 125 children are being
taught by 9 consultants and in-
terns, each of whom is working
one afternoon a week as an
academic coach. Apple Core,
the computer class, is the most
popular elementary offering
with 366 now enrolled. The
Reading, Math, and Learning
to Learn components are
demonstrating "holding
power" tn terms of enrollment.
A total of 609 middle school
stu'ients are participating, with
595 youngsters being taught by
15 coaches who are also full-
time classroom teachers. The
remaining are involved in a
French component which is
being taught by an intern at
Houston. PS AT Preparation
(Verbal and Math) attracts the
largest number of students.
Study Skills is going very well
at Brandenburg, and Science at
Jackson is a notable success.
Ten coaches who are also
full-time classroom teachers
are teaching 350 high school
students. Typing is being
taught for credit at LCHS and
NGHS. The Math Lab is very
successful as well as the SAT
Preparation courses.
The content of the middle
school SAT Preparation is be-
ing temporarily modified to
allow students to participate in
the Olympics of the Mind
Competition. Students will
focus on high-level verbal
skills, problem-solving math
techniques, and high level
quantitatives skills. GISD
schools will compete against
each other and ultimately
against other districts at an
ETSU conference in the
spring. After the competition is
over the classes will return to
the SAT preparation emphasis.
In addition, 6th graders who
scored in the 97th percentile or
higher in ITBS have been in-
vited to join the program.
&FAN
by
unit
ing
day,
lines
would
consun
Cats
unable
a r e
AUTO CRAFTERS
Extends Its Overall Acrylic
Enamel Paint Job Special
Body Work
Extra
CALL BEFORE FEB. 15, 1984
ASK ALSO ABOUT:
'EXPERT COLLISION REPAIR
'CLASSIC AUTO RESTORATIONS
'CUSTOM REFINISHING & ACCESSORIES
442-2645
On Hwy. 78
In The Sachse Industrial Park
108 HWY. 78 - WYLIE, TEXAS
(NEX I DOOR TO J & M DROP-IN MARKET)
"Rmanon - No Name
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530-0622
SALES - SERVICE - PARTS - ACCESSORIES
A & E Enterprises
530-0505
213 E. BUCKINGHAM, GARLAND
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EMAN0N
OFFICE PRODUCTS
* OFFICE & SCHOOL SUPPLIES
* OFFICE FURNITURE
* RUBBER STAMPS
* PRINTING
WE DELIVER SACHSE
CALL:
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The Sachse Sentinel (Sachse, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 2, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 1, 1984, newspaper, February 1, 1984; Sachse, Tex.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth335727/m1/13/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Smith Public Library.