FIRING WITH WOOD.
Always keep the fire door shut as much as possible, as cold air thus admitted will check the fire and ruin the boiler.
Firing with wood is in many ways the exact reverse of firing with coal. The firebox should be filled full of wood at all times. The wood should be thrown in in every direction, in pieces of moderate size, and as it burns away, fresh pieces should be put in at the front so that they will get lighted and ready to burn before being pushed back near the boiler. It often helps a wood fire, too, to stir it with a poker. Wood makes much less ash than coal, and what little accumulates in the grate will not do much harm. Sometimes green wood will not burn because it gets too much cold air. In that case the sticks should be packed as close together as possible, still leaving a place for the air to pass. Also a wood fire, especially one with green wood, should be kept up to a high temperature all the time; for if it is allowed to drop down the wood will suddenly cease to burn at all.