Forcing-House Miscellanies. 



409 



floor in the house and set fire to it by means of paper or shavings. 

 An old coal scuttle answers the purpose verj well. Figure 75 

 represents a tobacco-stem burner which we have designed, and which 

 is perhaps as simple, serviceable, and easily managed as any in use. 

 The body of the burner is made of heavy, galvanized sheet-iron. It 

 •closely resembles a stove pipe in form, but is about seven inches in 

 diameter and two feet in length. The bottom is made of the same 



75. — Home-made Tobacco Fumigator. 



material ; it is perforated by about a dozen holes, each three-eighths 

 of an inch in diameter. Four legs support the burner and k6^p 

 the bottom three inches from the floor. A handle at the top com- 

 pletes the device. When filled, the stems being packed sufficiently 

 close to insure their burning, it contains an amount that will answer 

 for a house of 4,000 to 6,000 cubic feet. Much, of course, depends 

 upon the tightness of the house, and considerable variation will also 

 be found in the strength of the stems. Occasionally some will be 

 had which are much weaker than those last used, and hence larger 

 quantities must be employed. It has been our practice to test each 

 new lot of stems to determine their strength before they were freely 

 used in all the houses. The quantity must also be varied in accord- 

 ance with the plants growing in the house. Some plants are much 

 more easily injured by the smoke than others, and the amount used 



