> Ron wrote: >> >>I plan to remove a big Bramley apple-tree soon, as I have saplings to set.
Apple tree are often propagated as species-specific stems grafted onto saplings grown from a compatible but different specicies which is more inclined to grow close to the ground, has desirable disease resistance etc. The trunk may give you different wood than the branches as a result. Apple wood in general should be fine grained and dense, very similar to maple. It is excellent for carving. It will also burn well, so those limbs too small for lumber should go to the woodpile, as chips or sticks, or whatever. Apple treesare not usually shaded or crowded by other trees, so they will commonly react to sunlight as shade trees do on a lawn, eg, they will grow with spiral grain. You will observe this when you split the bole, instead of the expected long straight pieces, they will more resemble corkscrews. If spiral, not the best for lumber; but still possible for carving. -- Dana Emery To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
