Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-03-26

be alert ana get IlreS gong before 50 de-
grees is reached because it is easier to
maintain a safe temperature than 1t is
To raise an injurious one. When the out
side temperature begins rising and ap-
breaches &c q grees the fires MAJ bc ex-
tinguished as fas as weather conditions
permit. The length of time the heaters
are lighted may vary from an hour to
several days depending on weatl or con-
ditions.
There is much more danger on a clear
night char on a cloudy one because tho
radiation % heat from the earth is more
rapid Clouds act as blanket and check
the radiation very considerably. Fruit
growers. during the season when there
Is likelihood of frost damage, should main
tain careful observation of weather con-
dtions they should also study the L. S.
Weather reports and whenever the for
cast indicates likelihood Of frost, make
ready to light their heaters and there
after keep especially close watch on To-
cal weather conditions
ALARM THERMOMETER
one or more alarm thermometers NAV
be installed I'm the orchard and be con-
nected with wire and battery to an a.
larm bell in the house. If this thermom-
eter is get at 3 degrees It will automat-
il ly complete the circute when the tenn
perature falls to 30 degrees or below, and
the bell will ring until someone breaks
the circuit or the temperature goes dp
above SO degrees
1t Is absolutely necessary to have stor-
age tanks so as to have fuel at hard all
OF the time. These should be placed near
to or IN the orchard for nvenicnce IN
refilling the heaters. If 100 heaters per
acre are burning it means the consump-
ton of 100 quart of oil per hour or 100
gallons in four hours. In menv parts Of
the country It is usually necessary to
! light the heaters ,nly three or four times
per season and keep them going from
two to four hours This will mean con-
sumption of $50 gallons or less of oil per
acre each season. II is not safe to risk
having less than this amount per acre
i available even though the season bc IA
vorable and none is used, and the cr-
chardist can quickly compute the amount
| of storage space he needs for his entire
! orchard He should also have the under
| standing with the iobber to ship oil Inn
mediatoly upon receipt of Geographic
| order.
Storage tanks may be made of wood
iron, or cement at TIE option of the
owner.
wagon tank with large faucet ant
short piece of hose is desirable for dis
trihuting the oil In the orchard. The OF
Is drawn into buckcts-lipped or spoutet
/ ones are best-and poured from these in
! to the heaters.
The kind OF oil used whether crude
| fuel or distilatc. will depend upon whicl
is available in the different sections III,
oils with an asphaltum base are not de
sirable because there is too much unburn
able residue; those with a paraffin bas
are much better in this respect
COST or EQUIPMENT
| The cost of oil heating equipment var
les greatly and each fruit grower mus
work it out for himself. The heaters ar
worth $50 TO s75 per acre depending upol
the kind used. At least 800 gallons of OF
per acre must be on hand to begin with
this viii cost from 81 to $50. Distributing
tanks and storage tanks will add to tn
expense according to the size and kin
used. The buckets, torches, ETC. do no
add much to the expense
| The coal heaters cost about so to &
per acre and since the coal may be dunn
ed on the ground there is no expense 70
storage. In fact the coal may be distri
butcd in piles throughout the orchar
and the heaters he rcfiled from thes
without more equipment than ordnar
baskets and shoves
There had better be an oversupply @
equipment than an undersupply becaus
If one heating is omitted at a critica
time the whole expense goes for naugt
that year
1t may seem like heavy expense
put in equipment for heating the orchar,
but this expense is really a premium o
insurins the crop. There are plenty OF II
stances where the investment of fe
hundred dollars and active work at or
teal times resulted in the saving of
crop worth several thousand dollar
, Many orchards would be unproductiN
without c"chard heating. Over lare
areas covering one or more states thel
IS an average of one peach crop In thrt
, years without orchard heating with o
! chard heatinG there would be from tw
to three crops in three years.
It must be understood that orchai
I heating applies not to protecting the o
a chard in inter, but to the protection ,
. the blossoms and very young fruits fro
e late frosts in the spring.