Monthly Weather Review Volume 38, PT. 2 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1911 Excerpt: ...for the past season as follows: Crude oil, including the labor of distributing the oil and interest on the cost of the pots, with 60 pots per acre, $3.00; distillate, including the same items of expense, $6.00; coal, including the same items, $5.00. This is on the basis of 250 pounds of coal per acre hour, the coal being worth $4.00 per ton at the mine. The cost of hauling the coal, as well as the kindling for starting it, is included within the estimate. The cost of firing with wood is very difficult to give since the price of wood varied greatly. However, it would be safe to say that with 30 to 40 fires per acre, under the above conditions, the cost would be from $2.00 to $4.00 per acre. From this it will be seen that crude oil is the cheapest of the fuels, taking everything into consideration, with wood a close second. Distillate is the most expensive; but for liquid fuel it is by far the most reliable. However, when the value of the crop is considered, the above actual costs represent a very cheap insurance. The value of any fuel for frost prevention depends upon the amount of heat it is capable of giving off. All of the fuels which have been mentioned have proven entirely satisfactory. A careful test of crude oil in the Burrell orchard, at Medford, Oreg., on the night of April 13 and 14, gave the following results in a 30-acre pear orchard, which is about 22 years old, the trees being large and spreading. At 12:00 midnight of the 13th the temperature in the orchard was 36 F.; at 1:00 a. m. of the 14th the temperature dropped to 31 F., when the fires were immediately lighted, and in a short time the temperature in the orchard rose to 33 F. From 2:00 a. m. until 5:00 a. m. the temperature outside the orchard remained approximately 26 F., while the temper...