40 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



Ad.iptabnity of Various Types of 

 Engines 



The foregoing table shows very clearly 

 that the cost for fuel to maintain a brake 

 horsepower for one hour varies widely, 

 and at the prices given the dearest costs 

 nearly 48 times as much as the cheapest. 

 The fact that not everybody uses the fuel 

 giving the cheapest power in point of fuel 

 cost, but that even the most expensive 

 finds a ready market, makes it clear that 

 there must be good reasons. These rea- 

 sons may be found in local variations in 

 price of fuel, in differences in adaptabil- 

 ity of the engines to the work required, 

 and in the fact that the above figures 

 show fuel cost only, whereas there are 

 great differences in the cost of attend- 

 ance. An elaborate steam plant, to be even 

 fairly efficient, must be continuously op- 

 erated at fairly heavy load; intermittent 

 working or working at a decreased out- 

 put makes them wasteful of fuel. More- 

 over, the apparatus is so complicated, 

 slow to start up, and dangerous to life 

 and property in careless or inexperienced 

 hands that persons must become skilled 

 by years of study and practice before 

 they may he allowed the handling. 



The gas engine with its producer can 

 handle today the same kind of coal that 

 is used in steam plants, and yet the 

 weight of this apparatus and its lack of 

 flexibility compared with steam engines, 

 make it unavailable for steamships and 

 locomotives; so it is clear again that 

 adaptability to service is even more im- 

 portant than the cost of fuel. Similarly, 

 gas-producer plants have not yet been 

 successful for sizes smaller than 25 

 horsepower, and especially unsuccessful 

 have they been so far for intermittent 

 work. For the small sizes the steam 

 plant is also very wasteful of fuel, re- 

 quires a skilled operator, and is slow in 

 starting; so it is clear why engines burn- 

 ing crude oil, gasoline, kerosene, and 

 other liquid fuels explosively should be 

 used for light work in isolated situations 

 where the work is intermittent and where 

 quick starting and small care in attend- 

 ance are essential. In this connection it 

 must not be forgotten that a kerosene, 

 gasoline, or crude-oil engine can be start- 



ed in a few minutes and can even be left 

 running for practically a whole day with 

 only an occasional examination to see 

 that the oil cups are flowing properly and 

 the bearings are not getting hot through 

 being dirty. Steam engines with their 

 boilers, on the contrary, can not be 

 started inside of one or two hours, and 

 all the fuel necessary to raise steam is 

 wasted so far as the work to be done is 

 concerned. Moreover, a steam engine re 

 quires continuous feeding of coal and 

 close attention, so that a man must be 

 always near it having no other duties 

 but its care. 



In the natural-gas regions a large num- 

 ber of gas engines are working and in 

 the oil regions a similar number of oil 

 engines and gasoline engines, because the 

 nearness to the supply makes the fuel 

 cheaper than transported fuel, and the 

 exploding engine is more efficient than 

 the steam engine. 



It thus appears that in spite of the 

 fact that the fuel element in the cost of 

 power is high for engines burning crude 

 oil, kerosene, and gasoline in comparison 

 with those using coal, at the same time 

 they possess advantages that do not exist 

 in steam plants and gas-producer plants, 

 which give them a very distinct field, as 

 indicated by the following uses to which 

 these engines are heing put today: Driv- 

 ing boats, automobiles, and railroad mo- 

 tor cars; pumping water tor private 

 houses, for farms, for irrigation, and in 

 some cases for municipal service in small 

 towns; compressing air for drilling, hoist- 

 ing, riveting, etc.; operating small car- 

 penter shops, machine shops, forge shops, 

 and, in fact, any kind of small shop; 

 operating ventilating fans in buildings 

 and in mines; running small factories, 

 such as creameries and butter factories; 

 operating feed-cutting and grinding ma- 

 chinery, corn shredders, and thrashing 

 machines; operating other special ma- 

 chines, such as ice-cream freezers, print- 

 ing presses, mostly small in size, and 

 making electric light in isolated local- 

 ities. Not only is this field a real one, 

 but it is a large one, as is shown by the 

 number of these small engines being sold 

 today. The exact figures on the sales are 



