How much wood would a family need to cut to prepare for winter. In "The New England Farmer" ©1855 it states: "Ten cords of wood will suffice for any man to keep two fires the year round provided he has tight rooms and good stoves."
And for those of you who don't know how much a cord of wood is, it is 128 cubic feet. Or 4 feet high by 4 feet wide and 8 feet long.
In an 1884 report a Lt. with a wife and two children required 5 cords of wood to heat his house during the winter. in Dakota. This was in an Annual Report to the Secretary by the United States War Dept.
I believe different factors come in when determining how much wood a family would need for winter. One is location, what are the temps during the winter months. Two, is the hardiness of the people. The difference between the New England Farmer and the Lt. serving in the Dakota region is significant. To the defense of the Lt. I believe many parts of Dakota are much colder than New England for a longer period of time. Again, it all depends on where your characters or family lived at the time.
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