Erich's wonderful poem/riddle is everywhere on the net but here
Consider the following riddle:
I am renewable;
I am a chemical element;
as a fuel I am often less expensive ($/GJ) than natural gas;
my energy density (GJ/m3) can exceed that of ethanol or LPG;
and my combustion does not add to the CO2 in the atmosphere;
I am easily stored and safe to transport;
I clean the water you drink and the air you breathe;
Plants grow best in soils that are enriched with me;
I am a key ingredient in the production of semiconductors;
When eaten I settle an upset stomach and clean the intestines; and
No one is afraid of me!
What am I?
"We want ours to burn good and slow," said Young Billy.
"If he burns fast he leaves nowt but ash.
The slower the fire the better the charcoal".
Susan was watching carefully.
"Why doesn't it go out?" she asked.
"Got too good a hold," said Young Billy.
"Once he's got a good hold you can cover a fire up and the better you cover him the hotter he is and the slower he burns.
But if you let him have plenty of air there's no holding him."
Arthur Ransome, "Swallows & Amazons", 1930.
seen at:
The page you are looking for has not been found - University of Reading)
“A number of his paintings are made with charcoal. Kiefer shows not just destructive forces, but rejuvenation. The landscape is ravaged, but it will one day become very fertile.”
Anik Fournier
On indigenous burning i am discovering many other native peoples used fire other than Australian Aborigines But Yourkshiremen?
I am a "Who-dun-it" fan and love quirky detectives. I am currently delighting in Nicholas Rhea's delightful D.I. Montague Pluke He is an expert on horse troughs and local folklore. (Yes I know only in an English/UK book could you get this)
In the first few pages of "Prize Murder' we came across a body in a burnt field.
Just before this we get a little history of Yorkshire Moors. Pluke is talking to his long suffering wife, Millicent.I hope you find this quirky bit of information as interesting as I did.
Quote:
Quote:
"'A whole area of heather has been burnt away'
'It's a swidden, sometimes called a swizzen.' Pluke aired his knowledge.
'It's a result of controlled burning. It's done every year, often in march before the grouse start their nesting. The landowner burns off about a sixth of a given area of heather, then the following year it will be the turn of another sixth and so on, so that over a period of years, the entire mooreland is burnt.'
'Goodness! But why?'
'It destroys the old heather, clears and refreshes the ground and encourages new growth. New shoots of heather grow quickly and they're stronger and healthier than the old; the new shoots are needed to feed the grouse too, and in former times local people would remove the turf after the burning and use it for domestic fires.'
'So turf is not the same as peat? I know a lot of mooreland farms had peat fires,' said Millicent.
'That's right but they had turf fires too. turf burns more slowly and gives out a lot of heat with a very pleasant scent. The thick heather stems which survived the flames were collected for kindling to light home fires.Those stubby stalks were called cowls, they were collected in big bundles called boddins, the local way of saying burdens. Boddins o' cowls, as the local people called them.
The whole exercise of controlled burning was, and still is, a necessary, useful and very effective means of maintaining the moors.'"
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P 14 -15
