Crude Oil. 221 



flowering plants use nothing but new, fresh, sweet soil. 

 Make it rich with all the food the plants will assimi- 

 late, but let the basis of it each and every year, be 

 virgin sod fresh from the field. 



CRUDE OIL. 



The use of this as a preservative is advocated by 

 many, while others are emphatic and decided in their 

 belief that it is injurious. The writer once washed 

 with it some new boards used in a partition wall. The 

 bench near them was afterwards planted to Duchess of 

 Albany, time enough having elapsed for the oil to 

 become perfectly dry and all scent to evaporate. The 

 result was, these plants rusted badly, while others, from 

 the same lot, planted on another bench, in the same 

 kind of soil, all the conditions in fact being the same 

 save in the use of the oil, remained perfectly healthy. 

 No form of plant life seems to have any affinity for this 

 product when brought in contact with it in any quan- 

 tity, and it seems reasonable to suppose small quantities 

 are proportionately injurious, though it may scarcely 

 be perceptible. I would much rather chance a bed 

 covered with decomposed hops than coal oil, whether 

 for the growth of carnations or roses, and even if the 

 result required a renewal of the lumber one-third sooner 

 in the former case, I believe that the increased product 

 would more than compensate for its early decay. It is 

 best to keep on the safe side of all things about -which 



