378 GREENHOUSE MANAGEMENT. 



valve escapes from the nozzle, but is at once vaporized 

 by and mixed with the steam. It is thus carried into 

 the combustion chamber, and may be scattered by a 

 daflector. While a pressure of steam of from ten to fif- 

 teen pounds is desirable, the burner will give a perfect 

 combustion of fuel with eight pounds, and even less. 



In the past many persons have been prejudiced 

 against the use of crude oil as fuel, on account of the 

 offensive odor given off when it is handled, and from 

 the many fires and explosions that have occurred from 

 its use. Crude oil cannot be used to advantage unless a 

 pipe can be run from the greenhouse to a large iron tank 

 in which the oil is stored. This tank must be several 

 hundred feet from any building, and so situated that it 

 can be readily connected with a tank car on a side track. 

 In this way there will be but little odor. The oil, by 

 opening a valve, will run down hill to the greenhouse, 

 and if the joints are all tight there will be no danger 

 from explosions. The burners will require but little 

 attention, there is no stoking to be done, no ashes to 

 be carried out, and there will be no dirt and smoke to 

 annoy one. 



About one hundred gallons of oil will be equal to a 

 ton of Anthracite pea coal, and making allowance for 

 the extra labor required when coal is burned, it is gen- 

 erally estimated that with oil at $1.25 per barrel, it will 

 be as cheap as soft coal at $1.80 per ton, and although 

 the relative price may vary, the usual opinion is that 

 with a good burner the oil is about twenty-five per cent 

 cheaper than steam lump coal. 



• GAS AND GASOLINE. 



Natural gas has been used with good results, but it 

 cannot always be relied upon, and the supply is even 

 now giving out in some places, while the limited terri- 

 tory in which it is found precludes its general use. 



