, FROST 
slop distillate is the presence of water, 
which tends to extinguish the flame or 
cause the pots to boil over. The pres- 
ence of water in crude oil is due to the 
fact that water is forced into the rifled 
delivery pipes as a jacket so that the oil 
will flow readily. Crude oil cannot be 
forced through long lines of pipe without 
this water jacket. Outside of the fact 
that the crude o1] often contains water, it 
has a very great tendency to deposit 
large amounts of soot on the trees, as 
well as tending to clog certain types of 
pots. Besides, a very large amount of 
residuum is left behind so that a second 
or a third filling will so coat the sides 
and bottom of the pot that it will hold 
much less oil in future fillings, and will, 
therefore, burn for a much shorter peri- 
od. For instance, a pot that will hold 
one gallon when clean will not hold more 
than three-fourths of a gallon after hav- 
ing been burned two or three times. 
This is a very serious defect, and one 
that cannot be overlooked. The crude 
oil from the wells of the Pacific coast 
is unlike that of the East or Middle 
West in that it has an asphaltum base. 
No matter what the type of pot, a 
heavy asphaltum oil cannot be perfectly 
burned; that is to say, combustion is 
not complete. The heavy asphaltum 
base requires a much larger amount of 
oxygen than even the best type of pot 
can furnish, hence the large amount of 
residuum left on the sides and bottom 
of the pot. The oils of the East have 
a paraffiine base and burn much better. 
At this time, however, it would seem im- 
possible to bring this oil in so as to 
compete with the Pacific coast product. 
The freight charges would bring the 
price up to a point where its use would 
be prohibitive. 
The distillate burns readily, leaves but 
very little deposit and does not tend to 
produce so much soot. This is what is 
called the 28-degree test. Its cost to the 
growers is very much above that of 
crude oil, and, therefore, was not used 
in 1911. The distillate used is known 
as “slop” distillate, and, although it was 
supposed to test 23 degrees, it has been 
1023 
found to test about 20 degrees, or per- 
haps a little more. This slop distillate 
proved to be very little, if any, better 
than the crude oil, since some of it con- 
tained water; and, besides, it tended to 
produce a great deal of soot. The 
amount of residuum left in the pots was 
in many cases nearly equal to that left 
by the crude oil. Both the crude oil and 
the slop distillate will eventually be re- 
placed by a better fuel. We will either 
use a distillate, such as the 28-degree 
test, or the lighter paraffine oils of the 
Hast. The cost of crude oil laid down 
at Medford is about four and one-half 
cents per gallon, and that of the slop 
distillate six and one-quarter cents per 
gallon. The 28-degree test distillate, in 
1910, cost the growers approximately 
nine cents a gallon. The greatest ele- 
ment of cost in obtaining these crude 
products is the high freight charge. 
Crude oil at the wells in California is 
worth scarcely two cents a gallon, and 
the distillates, which are refinery prod- 
ucts, do not cost more than twice that 
figure. 
By some of the fruit growers wood 
has been used for several years. That 
wood has been effective in preventing 
frost injury even when the temperature 
may run very lowis proven by an exam 
ination of the orchards where wood was 
properly used. In connection with the 
wood one grower used a small amount 
of crude oil, which he threw upon the 
wood fires ranged along the east side of 
the orchard so as to produce a dense 
smudge just before sunrise. In the Hol- 
lywood orchard wood was also used for its 
heating effect, and the dense smudge was 
produced by adding quantities of stable 
manure to the wood fires. An examina- 
tion of the orchard showed that the 
method worked very well. In other or- 
chards the same scheme of using wood 
and manure was carried out, and excel- 
lent results were obtained. In some very 
small orchards sawdust and shavings, 
put into large paper sacks and satur- 
ated with crude oil, also proved to be 
quite effective. These fires burned from 
six to seven hours, giving off a consid- 
