110 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 



may be successfully heated by kerosene stoves, which may 

 be placed inside the house. A much better way would be to 

 use oil heaters for an inside water circulation, carrying off 

 all products of combustion by means of a flue. Coal stoves 

 should never be installed inside the house. It has been 

 done successfully by some amateurs, but the danger of coal 

 gas being driven back into the house by a down draft in the 

 chimney is too great a risk. Coal gas and illuminating gas 

 are two virulent poisons to plants." 



It is obvious that the amateur must proceed with great 

 caution in undertaking intensive cultivation under glass. 

 Build at first the simplest and least expensive kind of hot- 

 beds or greenhouses. It takes three to five seasons to 

 train even an experienced farmer along these special lines. 

 Separate crops require special treatment. Do not experi- 

 ment, but follow well-tried procedure. It is comparatively 

 easy to farm an acre under glass, but it should be worked 

 up to, each step being taken only after a solid foundation 

 is ready to build on. Learn by your mistakes. Don't get 

 discouraged by failure. By not making the same mistake 

 twice, you will soon learn by experience just what is essential 

 to production. The more you learn about the way nature 

 does things, the more likely you will be to succeed when you 

 seek to imitate her. 



