The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-03-15
THE VALLEYS SUFFER.
Fruit Trees in Solano and Te-
hama Counties Sustain
Much Injury.
RUIN IN vACAVILLE ORCHARDS.
The Loss to Farmers in That Section
VIII Amount to Over
100000.

"The frost of last night" said Forecast
Official w. H. Harmon OF the Weather
Bureau yesterday, ''was nearly as severe
as any that we experienced last winter.
The low temperature extended as far south
as Tehachapi Pass, and it must have had
an injurious effect on the fruit crops 1t
was not unexpected, however. We sent
out warnings throughout the State yester-
day morning, and if the growers took
proper precautions their losses cannot be
heavy.
1.-The frost is the result of a cold wave
which started from Montana and the
Dakotas last Sunday, and which, after
sweeping the entire length of this State,
will swing around through Arizona, New
Mexico and Texas. The progress of the
cold weather has been carefully watched
and every locality has been warned of its
approach. On Tuesday night it reached
the Sacramento Valley; last night the San
Joaquin felt its effects, and tonight 1 ex-
pect light frost in the region south of
Tehachapi Pass.
This is the season at which fruit trees
are tenderest-that is, most affected by in
clement weather. Pears and apricots are
now IN flower, or have Just cast their
petals, and touch of frost at this time
Injuries them infinitely more than would
be the case two weeks hence. Prune trees,
however, are still in the bud, and will
probably escape injury; but grapes, being
so near the ground, are likely to have
suffered severely. The produce men can
probably give more definite information
concerning the, advancement of different
than 7 hut T 1ott
Gently from the Board of Trade at Visalia
stating that the fruit trees are now at
their most critical stage.
''The severity of the frost? Well, it is
not what we call black, for it would iniure
only delicate crops and those trees which
are now putting forth tender shoots. It's
wide extent is somewhat unusual, and ap-
parently the conditions of clear, cold and
still atmosphere must have existed every
where. In the Sacramento Valley the
temperature ranged between 80 and 40 de-
grees, though the freezing point was
reached at only one point, Dunnigans.
The temperatures as reported from other
points at o'clock this morning were:
Biggs Station 30, Red Bluff 81, Wheatland
3S, Willows 35, Williams "a, Fruito So and
Germantown SO. The minimum at Sacra-
mento was &c degrees, but that's accounted
for by the fact that in that section the
coolest weather come yesterday afternoon,
and it had already begun to grow warmer
''The San Joaquin Valley was not so for
tunate, though, at Stockton because of the
city's position at the head of navigation
the thermometer did not fall below 80 de-
grees. The reported temperatures at 7
o'clock are: Oakdale 33, Lathrop 50, Mo-
desto 30, Borden So, Goshen 30, Lemoore 33
and Tulare City 3d. AT Fresno the mer-
curry registered "a degrees, which is pretty
cold for grapes. Independent, on the
other side of the mountains, was frozen
down to &c degrees.
up Petaluma way and in Sonoma
County the temperature was even lower
At Glen Ellen the lowest point, % degrees,
was reached. The other reports are: Ell
Verano 81, Napa 80 and Santa Rosa 81
From the Santa Clara Valley we have no
reports, but during former cold seasons
when the glasses in surrounding sections
have registered precisely what they do
now, Santa Clara has registered about 35
degrees"
'You think that none but the fruit crops
can have been injured?"
"The truck farms and gardens back from
the coast, such as those in the vicinity of
Fruitvale, were probably affected, but those
crops can be readily replanted and their
loss will therefore be small"