The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1882-06-30
Smoke pisnerSr Frost.

Among the dispatas which have
recently come from thlterior of Cali
fornia respecting the edition of fruits
and vines are several Sing that Jack
| Frost swept over the. hy counties one
night last week, and hdght the usual
/ devastation TO fruit and lne plantations.
In Santa Cruz, noted bits fine, though
not early, fruits and gags, and in Napa
and Sonoma, where tefine flourishes
i principally. the damaeseems TO have
| been very extensive. Clifornia is des-
tined to be the creates ruit and grape
region in the world. % it is rapidly
acquiring an enviableeptation for late,
early and erratic frozt ihich worry the
! farmer and make his miserable. As
nearly everything in i State is Pecu-
liar, it Is perhaps me that the frosts
should be governed baD law; but it is
somewhat difficult forIerson engaged
in fruit orvine growinD have his crop
destroyed in this wayi n keep his tenn
per- 1t is estimated at many thou
sand dollars worth otnpes have been
withered BY the frost Napa and So
noma during the past eek, which is a
most extraordinary thu ut this season
of the wear. Sciencehs done some
thing already to obva, this trouble,
and II NAV be that Tn viii perfect a
system OF thwarting II Hvages of Jack
Frost 1t is not well-n,wn TO the gen
eral public that a laye f frost upon a
tender plant does NJ materially in
lure it--that is, ae bare frost,
produced by dew beiR frozen by low
temperature. 1t is thnvs of the sun
in the early morningfsawing out the
plaut which withers mi destroys it.
This fact was first notei when a heavy
fog kept the morning sin of a Napa
vineyard, and preventsihe destruction
of crop of grapes. Twas then sug-
gested that smoke wd answer the
same purpose. and it wsried with con-
success Dung the last few
years the vineyards OfSpa and Senoma
have been experimental until AT pres
ent they have a regllaNvtem of ''smok-
inc VINEYARDS. Krus Sroezinger and
a few others. who haw Extensive vine
yards in Napa ValleJ, wo years ago
warded off the frost successfully. Be
tween the lst aud l5h ( April, if the
season is not neutrality-suspicious., the
blossoms appear upon tli grape vines.
If frost occurs betwea those dates,
followed by n warm sun the first. and
the second rP of Zintandel
IS killed. while all the ,ther varieties
Malvoise, Rose of Peru Emperor, ReTs-
inc, etc, suffer almosttdal destruction.
70 smoke the vineyard at the proper
lime, Waterman, a lDwitzer and
are put on guard. From
The 1st 10 the 18th of Apil the sentinel
keeps his eve on the thermometer, from
three o'clock in the morning until day
light, andif it goes downto the freezing
point he discharges his howitzer- Al
)nce a small army Of vney ardists walt
~e s,s sses sound turn .s-',s'-T--.'s., isstl,
and repair to their feds, around anu
through which have preyIousiy oeen
placed small iron vessels filed with tar.
or piles of dry wood. Alambeau quickly
does the work. and Old sol rises over
the hills to see the valley covered WIN
an impenetrable cloud of smoke anu
revealing in smell that would offend Dis nls
olfactors- if he were les than so'ooo,vUo
miles away. The atmosphere IS grauS a,
ally warmed. the frost melts Slowly on
the fruit crystals, and the grapes aie
saved. San F'ranclSco Gail.