42 AROUND AN OLD HOMESTEAD. 



Hickory bark makes the hottest fire, and for this 

 reason, if obtainable, is always to be preferred in sugar- 

 making to put under the kettles. But, as a rule, an 

 apple-wood fire is the best for the house, for apple 

 doesn't snap, but burns with a steady, beautiful flame; 

 though I like a good sugar fire also. For general pur- 

 poses as fuel, however, there is practically no wood 

 superior to maple or hickory, though there is almost 

 as much heat given out by the sycamore. I like to use 

 a little of oak and beech, too, if I have it, to add to 

 the variety. Buckeye and sour gum make the best back- 

 logs, outlasting any other kind of wood used for the 

 purpose; but they are not always to be had. Whole 

 sticks — limbs, or sections of saplings — are better than 

 split wood for fuel ; for the heart wood is the most com- 

 pact, while that in the outer circles of growth is more 

 porous and full of sap, and is thus less fibrous and 

 radiates less heat. Soft maple makes, in point of qual- 

 ity, the best charcoal of all the trees, but an ash-tree 

 gives the greatest percentage ; willow, too, is much used 

 for the purpose. A maple generally turns out about 

 twenty-three per cent of its bulk in charcoal, and an 

 ash twenty-five per cent. Water-soaked or porous wood 

 (like ash and oak) always snaps, as also do hickory 

 and locust. Gas imprisoned there will suddenly ex- 

 plode and send out sparks scattering all over a room, 

 to the sudden discomfiture of the terriers perchance 

 stretched out before the fire, who will start up and 

 scramble back with remarkable activity. A coal fire 

 may give out a greater heat for its size, but I will ven- 

 ture to say that. If I have a wide enough fireplace, I 

 can muster up a wood fire sufficiently hot for the most 



