58 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 



beasts of the forests, and each other ; but now 

 they are very generally supplied with guns, 

 and bows and arrows have gone out of fashion. 

 But of all the uses of hickory wood, there is 

 none more general or important than hoop- 

 making : it is very pliant, you know ; that is, 

 it bends very well, without breaking : and now 

 only consider what vast quantities of flour, 

 beef, whiskey, sugar, pork, apples, cider, mo- 

 lasses, and many other things are taken from 

 or brought to the United States in barrels, 

 and you may imagine what amazing num- 

 bers of hickory trees must be cut up into hoops 

 every year, and what sums of money are paid 

 for the poles ; and it is a very sad thing to 

 reflect that they are becoming scarcer and 



scarcer. 71 



"But, Uncle Philip, there is another great 

 use of hickory, that you have not mentioned." 



" And what is that, my boy ?" 



" For burning ; I have heard mother say 

 that hickory makes the best fire of any wood 

 in the world." 



" It does, indeed ; the heat it gives out 

 is very strong, and the coals last a very 

 long time. A hickory log completely ignited, 

 and well covered with ashes, will keep twenty 



