The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-02-21

thelr beats increasingly, keeping Ut,
the fires. making sure that each gives
out liberal quantity of sr,oke and
seeing that the thermometz. Ices NOT
drop below the danger point. The
heaVy smoke settles in. a, thick. uni-
form cloud over the trees and acts as
sort of blanket. holding down the
warmth given out by thc fires and that
radiated by the earth.
lhere is difference of opinion among or
cnardlsts as to the best plan 70, warming
up up an d1., outdoors Some of then say that
mixing Of the warm witta the colo air and
tnat the overhanging pah .s,9ok is of no
use use: But 1t is nevertheless that a
halt acre in one orchard was protected nv
an overhead screen without fires and ny
temperature kept degrees higher than in the
surrounding plain. The best results ha re
b,,rn GOtaineo from fires of crude oil which
burned with a large flame, but it has been
1ound unadvisable to use this material be-
cause the SCOT gathers in large Quantities on
fruit and leaves. W
Some orchardists saw that Whatever will
produce an upward draught and carry the
colo air skyward will produce the desired
result In proof of this they say that the
thermometer will read from 2 to degrees
hlgher with each ten or twelve feet of ascent.
and that even a little gust of wind on a
still, cold night will raise the temperature
the fruit.
From these facts, said one grower who
mas been studying the matter closely. at
appears that solution of the frost problem
may may be had by a simple mixing OF the
lower with the contiguous upper air.
In order to give thorough test to this
theory trial is to he made of large blowers.
or mixers, driven by gasoline engines or
electric motors, which will simply keen the
air in motion, without fires, throughout an
orchard.
Many experiments have been made in the
EFFORT to solve this problem. Much was ex-
pected OF steam apparatus which puffed out
CLOUDS or warm steam. But it was found that
the moisture settled and turned into frost on
the trees. In some orchards water is turned
curing cold nights.l But this Is not supposed
TO be OF much use Most orchards are pro
tecteq by wind breaks the sides from
which cold waves are most likely to come.
notwithstanding the fact that the thermom-
eter has stood as low as "a degrees on a good
Ties In the orange district has dropped even
lower, the orange growers have saved nearly
the whole of their crop, and thew are
united In the conviction that the orange crop
can be preserved practically uniniured dur
ing any weather that is likely to visit South
ern Calltorn:a, except in very low cold To-
cal1tles, which ought not to be planned in
oranges. And there is something fer Florida
to think about '' -u'
The effect Of freezing upon an orange is n
ourst the small sacs which inclose the puln
SO that the Juice oozes out and evaporates
through the skin, leaving the inside drv and
spongy. No difference is apparent in the fru;t
for week or two after freezing If eaten
within few days nothing unusual can he mo-
tced, and the fruit is not injurious But a
sure test OF suspected orange Is to Mace
some unbroken juice cells on the thumb nail
and gently push them over it. little trail
of moisture will be left on the nail if the
fruit has been frozen W