joemallik

I've had the following in a notebook for a lot of years. It's a rhyming bit of English folk wisdom. No author, no copyright. If you like it, copy it. It's about trees, but actually more about wood.

Oak logs will warm you well,
That are old and dry;
Logs of pine will sweetly smell
But the sparks will fly.

Birch logs will burn too fast,
Chestnut scarce at all;
Hawthorne logs are good to last-
Cut them in the fall.

Holly logs will burn like wax,
You may burn them green;
Elm logs like to smouldering flax,
No flame to be seen.

Beech logs for wintertime,
Yew logs as well;
Green elder logs it is a crime
For any man to sell.

Pear logs and apple logs,
They will scent your room;
Cherry logs across the dogs
Smell like flower of broom.

Ash logs, smooth and grey,
Burn them green or old,
Buy up all that come your way,
Worth their weight in gold.