58 The Fruit-Growers Guide-Book 



In using oil as a fuel the largest item of expense, after 

 the purchase of the fire pots and the oil, is the storage 

 tank for the oil. Enough oil should be on hand at the 

 beginning of the season to last through any possible cold 

 snap that might come. This will mean that all of the oil 

 will hardly be used in any one season, and perhaps good 

 fortune will smile on the fruit grower and make it un- 

 necessary to heat over a period of years. However it is 

 highly necessary to have both heaters and fuel on hand 

 in the case of an emergency. The most convenient way 

 to store the oil is in a large storage tank located on an 

 elevation such as a hillside where the oil can be emptied 

 into the storage tank by gravity and withdrawn into the 

 tank wagon or heaters in a similar manner. Lifting the 

 oil out of the tanks with a pump is both laborious and 

 costly, so that where the oil can be handled by running it 

 down hill it is cheapest to do it that way. 



Use Enough Heaters 



It is advisable to have more heaters distributed through 

 the orchard than will possibly be needed on any night. 

 The advantage of this is that when the fires are required 

 about one of every three pots can be lighted, and if there 

 is danger of the temperature dropping still lower, and 

 this many pots will not keep the temperature up to the 

 desired point, there are still others to be lighted. 



Whatever heaters are used, they should by all means 

 be properly distributed throughout the orchard a few days 

 before there is possibility of having to put them into use. 

 They will need to be covered to prevent water getting on 

 the fuel, as it will cause trouble. Coal that is wet will not 

 ignite easily, and at best it is slow and troublesome to set 

 on fire. With the oil, if water gets into it it will spatter 

 and possibly fry or boil over on to the ground and not 

 make as satisfactory a fire as when it is kept perfectly 

 dry. Nearly all of the various makes of heaters that are 

 on the market are provided with lids to protect the fuel 

 from rain or snow. With some of them, however, it is 



