Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1914-04-04

close watch on local weather conditions,
ALARM THERMOMETERS.
one or more alarm Thermometers may
be installed in the orrahrd and may be
connected with wire and battery Ia an
alarm bell in the house. III this Their
momctcr j. sci ~ e: degrees il will au-
tomatically complete the Circuit when the
temperature falls "a ~ degrees or below.
and the bell will ring until someone
breaks the Circuit or the temperature goes
up above ~.
STORAGE EQUIPMENT.
II j. absolutely essential to have stor-
are tanks - as a. have fuel at hand all
If the time. These should bc placed
near or in the orchard for convenience
in rcfilling the heaters. If 100 heaters
per acre are burning il means the con
sumption of 100 quarts Of oil per hour
or 100 gallons IN four hours. In many
parts Of the country il j. usually neces
Sarv 10 light the heaters only three or
four times per season and keep them GO
ing from We 10 four hours. This will
mean Il consumption of 900 gallons or
less Of oil peers acre each season. Ii j.
not safe 10 risk having less than this
amount per acre available eve nthough
the season H. favorable and none il used.
AMI the urrhardist can quickly compute
the amount Of storage space he needs for
his entire orcahrd. lie should also have
an understanding 10 ship oil Immediately
upon receipt of a telegraphic order.
Storage tanks may he made of wood
iron or cement ut the option Of the owner.
\ wagon tank with large faucet and
short piece of hose il desirable for dis
trihuting the oil in the orcahrd. The oil
j. drawn into buckets-lippcd and spout
u ones are bcSt-and poured from these
INTO the heaters.
KIND OF OIL.
The Kind of oil used whether crude.
url or di>tillatc. will depend upon which
: available in the different sections.
rhe oils with an aSphaltum base are not
'cSirahlc because there is too much un-
D rnahle residue; those with a paraffin
base are much better in this respect.
COST OF EQUIPMENT.
Nv fU~N WI VII H'diiHE equipment
varies greatly and each fruit grower
must work ii out for himself. The heat
err are worth from 80 10 $40 per acre.
depending upon the kind used. At least
'sJ0 gallons Of oil per acre must be on
hand To begin with: this will cost from
- To 80. Distributing tanks and stor-
age tanks will add Ia the expense ac-
cording To the size and kind used. The
buckets. torches. etc. do not add much
10 the expense.
The coal heaters cost about 80 to so
per acre and since the coal may be-
dumped on the ground there is no ex-
pcnSc for storage. In fact the coal may
be- distributed in piles throughout the
orchard and the heaters rcfillcd from
these without more equipment than ordi-
nary basket and shovcls.
There had better be- an over supply of
equipment than an under supply because
il u heating is omitted III a critical
time the whole expense goes for naught
that year.
IL CROP INSURANCE.
II may seem like a heavy expense to
put ~ equipment Tor heating The or
chard, hut this expense is really a prem.
ium on inSurine the crop. There are
plenty Of instances where the investment
of a few hundred dollars and active work
az critical times resulted in the saving
Of 4 crop worth several thousand dollars.
Many orchards would he un%productive
without 0rcahri heating. Over large
areas covering one or more States there
j. an average of one peach crop in three
years witont orchard heating; with or
chard heating there would DC from two
Ia three crops in three wears.
Ii must be- understood that orchard
heating applies not To- protecting the or
chard in winter. but 10 the protection Of
the blossoms and very Young fruits from
late frosis in the spring.