Before Sparkplugs

One of the fascinating inventions from the early days of the internal combustion engine is hot tube ignition. It consists of a hollow tube opening into the combustion chamber and a torch to heat the tube red hot. Ignition timing can be adjusted by moving the torch up or down on the tube. It was a reliable system for stationary oilfield engines which had to run for days on end. It has no moving parts, no electrical problems, and the gas to run it was easily available in the oilfield. I saw a Bessemer engine in a powerhouse near Salyersville KY with this type of ignition in 1980. It was putting right along, pumping oil from several wells. I doubt there are any of these early Twentieth Century engines still pumping oil, but they are a common collectible you can see at gas engine shows. Roll down to the Boonville show pics in the October 24 post and you can see this Reid two stroke engine running. Click on the Antiques label to find the video easily.

Today Is...

Take a youngster or a non-shooter to the range and pop some caps this week.

Well Fed Forester

Once upon a time, I thought that a pack of saltine crackers and a can of Beanie Wienies was OK for lunch out in the field. I finally wised up and realized I could have a hot lunch every day just by taking along some of my camping gear. I started out doing many variations of beans and noodles, and I still do that once in a while, but beans and rice has become my tailgate specialty. I boil a small batch of black rice (sweet and high fiber) at home every night, and it is plumped up nice in the morning. I add a bean selection from the Dented Can Store and season it with a combination of habanero and other pepper sauces. Lunch for under 50 cents! Cheap and healthful! I usually top it off with some high power coffee to keep me alert after such a great feast.

Hot and Strong!

Keep Your Head Down, Friend

Friday morning will be a dangerous time for my friendly ten pointer. I have watched this deer grow up, and as long as I don't stray out of the yard, he will tolerate me when I talk to him. He has been hanging around the house and barn the last few days, and if he survives the first few hours of gun season tomorrow, I am sure he will hunker down in our woods for the duration of the weekend. I hope he reappears next week.

Blaze of Glory

White Oak

Red Maple

All summer long while the midwest baked the news people were moaning about the drab fall we would have. The fall colors have not been as intense as some years, but the trees have made up for intensity by putting on an extended show this year. Fall colors started early with the sumacs; and sour gum, which usually turns red and drops in one week, has lasted for a month. Quite a few sugar maples colored up late, and silver maples were a brilliant yellow last week. They dropped very quickly this week. The red maples put on a good show and are now nearly all done. Even the oaks have done a good job of showing colors this year. Sycamore was a real surprise, producing nice combinations of yellow, bronze and light greens on most trees.

Mixing Metaphors

What's a metaphor? Why for growing hay, of course. Some of the old technolgy on display at threshing shows illustrates past methods of handling hay and straw. Square bales are now the old way of handling forage crops for most of the people who display equipment at these shows. If you check out the age of the show participants you can deduce that most of them grew up with the big round bales you see in fields around the midwest. Before baling twine, before baling wire, there was loose hay. The technology of handling loose hay is a chapter in history that today's farmers don't know at all. This first picture was taken in northwestern Missouri in 1906. The horses in this photo are pushing gathering rakes, commonly called go-devils to bring hay to the stacker. In later years this method was updated by replacing the horses with an automobile or tractor.
My great grandfather Henry is the man on the right on top of the hay stack. His wife Ida is the lady standing on the right. She is carrying my grandmother Helen and twin Homer, who were born in 1907.



A major improvement was the hay stacker which was pulled by horses. This machine loaded loose hay onto a wagon, which then would be off loaded into a barn. The loose hay could be baled by a stationary baler in the barnyard, or packed in the barn as loose hay. Square balers pulled behind a tractor for baling in the field rendered these old methods obsolete very quickly. There is so much history in the brief time span of the Twentieth Century that we must not be too critical when folks don't get it right, but I think it is OK to chuckle.


There is no way this hay stacker could have loaded BALES! (Photo shamelessly stolen from Engineering Johnson)

billion meticulations of the roots* or Don't Call it Dirt

*the lives & times of archy and mehitabel

Foresters do a lot of looking up while they work. This causes us to trip a lot, which is good for laughs if anyone is with us. Some criticize us for not looking down enough, but that really is not a true assessment. Soil scientists spend a lot of time looking down, and nobody gives them a hard time for not looking up; go figure. Once a year, soil scientists and foresters get together for the Central States Forest Soils Workshop, a field seminar where participants look both ways. Attendees from both disciplines range in age from college students to retirees, and everyone goes home richer in understanding of the resources we treasure. This fall it was in Southern Illinois, and there were over 160 participants. Next year it will be in Ohio. The location has not been announced, but you can probably Google it next August and find it.

Trivia: Foresters have to take soils courses, but soil scientists do not have to take forestry courses.


Retired Soil Scientist Dana G expounding on a hillside soil pit.

SIU Professor Charles Ruffner describing the effects of thinning and burning to foster oak regneration.

A pit in alluvial soil at Union State Tree Nursery. This pit had two soil types; a rare treat!

We look at landscapes, too. Here is Camel Rock at Garden of the Gods.

Get Out Your Gun and Whistle Up the Dog

Most hunters are preoccupied with the upcoming fall deer season when November rolls around. Deer hunting means getting out of bed early, finding your way into the woods in the dark, freezing your feet off, and being alert for other hunters so you don't get shot. Hunting groundhogs in the fall is a much more relaxing exercise in woodsmanship. These shy little creatures like to come out on warm, sunny afternoons in the fall when you are likely to fall asleep sitting in the woods. They are more easily alarmed than the average deer, so you must be quiet and concealed. You must have your rifle sighted in precisely so you can make an instant kill with one shot. If you can't do that, the hog will get away down its hole. Don't use a .22 long rifle.
Put one in the freezer before winter weather arrives or you will be caught short on Groundhog Day. 85 days and counting down!

NEW YORK CITY?!!!

Here is a very old (100 years), rare and unusual engine. It was manufactured by the August Mietz Company in New York, New York. This is a two stroke engine with a hot head for ignition, and a fuel injector, which you can see in operation on top of the cylinder as the engine runs. This company ended production in 1915 after the death of the owner. I would guess that most of these engines were used in industrial situations in the eastern US. Seeing one at the Boonville IN show was a rare treat.

Enjoy Long Walks?

Here is a handy item you can’t afford to be without if you go off the hard road: the Hi-Lift Jack. I don’t use mine for lifting very often. Usually I am using it as winch. It is very handy for stretching fence, or straightening timbers in a slouching barn, but it really shines when it pulls me out of a hole, ditch or other off-road jam. If you stow one of these in your vehicle along with some chains and tow straps you can perform self-rescues and return home on four wheels.

Winches are expensive, and you can't have one on every vehicle you drive, but this bad boy can go with you in any vehicle. I dropped a wheel into a hole the other day and my truck was down on the frame. The first time this happened to me (29 years ago), I had a nice long walk and had plenty of time to contemplate my folly in unpreparedness. Walking is great when I am looking at timber, but walking for help is bad for the spirit. This time I winched out with my jack, and was back on the road in short order.

You can order one of these from: http://www.northerntool.com/