346 OLD PLY^^IOUTH TRAILS 



ure its reaction on the mind of man or weigh 

 the resuks, but they are there. 



Wood was the sole fuel of the New England 

 pioneers for two centuries. In fact in many a 

 remote farmhouse it is today, and the fathers 

 soon found by use which kind lighted quickest 

 and which burned longest and with the most 

 steady heat, facts which the subtle analysis of 

 the chemists only confirmed. The conifers light 

 most readily and burn rapidly with the greatest 

 heat in a given time. The hard woods burn long- 

 est, some of them retaining fire for a surpris- 

 ing length of time under just the right conditions. 

 The woodsmen will tell you that the pines light 

 easily and burn fiercely because of the pitch they 

 contain. This is true but the chemists have 

 added another reason. Pine gives off much hy- 

 drogen when heated and this light and inflamma- 

 ble gas gives much flame. Even in pine wood 

 which does not seem resinous to the touch there is 

 much of this volatile inflammable material and a 

 good store of pine kindlings is a first requisite in 

 every well ordered country household. Of the 

 hard woods hickory is easily king as a fire holder. 

 Yet the oaks, white and red, and the sugar and 



