FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 7S 



But it is only on special occasions that it is desirable to 

 have green wood, and it should at all other times be not only 

 dry but very dry. Nothing is better as a standard fuel than 

 sound hard wood sawed into proper lengths and split up into 

 pieces about a quarter of an inch thick. The only objection is 

 that such wood is rather expensive, for it takes a great deal of 

 time to prepare it. Much the same thing without the cost of 

 preparation may be had at any woodpile where hard wood has 

 been chopped — I mean the chips to be found there — and that 

 has been the favorite smoker-fuel "in this locality" for some 

 time. When the weather is dry, the chips may be picked up in 

 the chip-yard and filled directly into the smoker, but a stock is 

 always kept on hand well covered up, ready to use immediately 

 after the heaviest shower of rain. 



SMOKER-KINDLING. 



When live coals are at hand in the cook-stove, nothing is 

 handier than to put a few of them in the smoker to start the 

 fire. These are not always at hand. I have used for kindling 

 carpenter's shavings, kerosene, rotten wood of some hard wood, 

 especially apple, that kind of rotten wood that is somewhat 

 spongy and will be sure to burn if the least spark touches it — 

 all these have given more or less satisfaction, but nothing quite 

 so much as saltpeter-rags. Like the right kind of rotten wood, 

 the least spark will light a saltpeter-rag so that it will be sure 

 to go, but it is not so slow in its action as the rotten wood, and 

 makes a much greater heat, so that chips of sound hard wood 

 will be at once started into a secure fire. 



SALTPETER-RAGS. 



To prepare the saltpeter-rags a crock is kept constantly 

 standing, containing a solution of saltpeter. The strength of 

 the solution is not a matter of great nicety. A quarter or half 

 a pound of saltpeter may be used to a gallon of water, and if it 

 evaporates so that the solution becomes stronger, water may be 

 added. A cotton rag dipped in this solution will be ready for 

 use as soon as dried. As a matter of convenience, quite a lot 



