ARBORICULTURE 



59 



Oil the Ally of Aboriculture. 



The recent coal strike has had a terri- 

 ble effect upon the forests in the more 

 densely peopled regions. 



A correspondent says : Old axes have 

 been brought out and sharpened to make 

 cordwood and the forests are being 

 raided for fuel. 



We commend the following item from 

 the St. Louis Republic : 



"Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. lo.— Bricks 

 bid fair to rival coal as a fuel in this city. 

 Thousands are burning bricks soaked in 

 coal oil. This innovation is the inven- 

 tion of a woman. 



One large porous brick soaked all night 

 in coal oil will burn for more than two 

 hours, and will furnish sufficient heat to 

 cook a meal. Three or four bricks 

 placed in a heater will warm a house for 

 nearly three hours. The bricks can be 

 used as often as desired. 



Persons who have made the experiment 

 are delighted, and many of them say they 

 will continue to burn oil in this way in 

 their cooking ranges, even after the coal 

 strike is ended. 



Each brick has attached to it a piece 

 of wire with a loop, so that it may be 

 easily handled. 



A very porous soft brick will hold al- 

 most a quart of oil. 



One brickyard here is making a special 

 porous brick for this purpose." 



The cheapness of crude petroleum, the 

 great quantities being brought to the sur- 

 face in the oil regions of Texas and other 

 states, seem to indicate that oil will in 

 the future be the principal heat producing 

 material both for steam, in commerce and 

 manufactures, and for household use. 



We called attention, recently, to the 

 adoption of oil for locomotives by sev- 

 eral railways. It is no less of value for 

 warming houses in our cities, and as 

 such we welcome the advent of this ally 

 to save some of our forests. 



A field is open for inventors who will 

 provide a method of using this natural 

 fuel so as to avoid the danger — and, as 

 well, the odor, which makes the use of 

 oil so disagreeable in the house. 



Natural gas is rapidly becoming ex- 

 hausted, and manufacturers in the gas 

 regions may well be investigating this 

 subject of petroleum as a substitute. 



The frequency of strikes in the coal 

 regions, and the possibility of a repetition 

 of past experiences, should warn citizens 

 not to depend entirely upon coal for fuel. 



A California exchange says : 



"Oil fuel is being used on some of the 

 Willamette and Columbia River steam- 

 ers as a substitute for wood. Oil can 

 be had for $i per barrel, and a barrel of 

 oil is claimed to be equal to a half cord 

 of wood, the latter costing from $2.25 to 

 $2.75 per cord. The cost of installing 

 oil burners is about $500 per boat of con- 

 siderable size. The larger boats use coal 

 for fuel ; but as coal is also expensive 

 they may change to oil, should the ex- 

 periments now being made prove eco- 

 nomical." 



When it is considered how vast a quan- 

 tity of wood is used for fuel in those 

 regions where coal is scarce, transporta- 

 tion of coal being prohibitive on account 

 of frequent handling from vessels to cars 

 — and distance of rail transportation — it 

 will be better understood how it is that 

 we welcome oil as an ally, since it is so 

 much more easily transported and eco- 

 nomical as well. The Inter Ocean re- 

 cently said : 



ALL ENGINES WILL BURN OIL. 



Southern Pacific Decides to Abandon 

 Coal on Its Locomotives. 



Oil as a fuel has proved such a suc- 

 cess on all the lines of the Southern Pa- 

 cific that general orders have been issued 

 for the conversion of all the engines into 

 oil burners as soon as possible. Coal 

 will be abandoned absolutely. Within a 

 year the Southern Pacific will be on an 

 oil basis solely. The order will affect 

 all the divisions of the company. The 

 local division, generally known as the 

 Western, is in the lead in the number 

 of oil burning engines. The Sacramento 

 division comes next, and the Los An- 

 geles division third. All of the divisions 



