The Florida agriculturist., 1907-11-20
Frost Protection.

trees. The California Cultivator prints
some directions for protecting groves
from the effects of frost. Some hints
may be gathered from the article
which NAV be useful in this state:
Owing to the fact that the earliest
planting of citrus fruits in the River
side district were made on lands most
easily reached by gravity water, there
was a large portion Of the earlier
planting that was SO located as to
be especially subject to occasional
frosts At the time of the great Christ
mas freeze of 1892, the first Of series
of more or less severe freezes, this
section was severely injured This was
to such an extent that many growers
who were carrying heavy mortgage
Indebtedness lost their entire savings.
was a narrow strip extending below
the bitches, for a stretch of something
like ten miles, not over a mile wide
In any one place, thus forming a
barrier to prevent the flow of cold air
from extending to lower levels, max
ing the citrus belt much more subject
to frost than it had been at first
planting.
This is now largely changed, and
the large paintings above the O d
Riverside water-level bitches has so
extended as to be from three to four
miles wide. The radiation Of heat
from the orchards above, as the grav-
ity flow of air proceeds, has materially
tempered the locality, and all this land
below the bitches is comparatively
immune from this cause of injury to
growing crops.
1t was during these years of frost
scare" that various systematic expert
ments were undertaken. 1t was early
discovered that running water by the
furrOW system Of irrigation was a safe
and often sure means of protection.
One of the earliest experiments, on
a large scale, was with crude oil, piped
to burners throughout the orchard
from oil drums properly located. 1t
was A. J. Everest who installed this
system, and though too expensive for
general use, paved the way for more
practical applications of the use of
direct heat. One Of the most serious
objections to this system was the i'm
mense volume of black, greasy SCOT
deposited on trees, fruit, houses, and,
in fact, everything outside, not only
the operators orchard, but adjoining
properties. This was so Objectionable
that suit at law was threatened by
neighbors.
Mr.. Everest and many others be-
gan a systematic study Of the tenn
perature variations of Our cold nights.
Thermometers were stationed on maStS
to determine the temperature at vari-
Gus elevations. The Hygrometer was
employed to determine the relations
of the dew point to Our frosts, and air
currents were studied. Then much
data was collected in a semi-scientifc
way, which has cast6a flood of light
upon the question as it applies to the
interior valleys of the citrus belt in
California.
Then came the efforts of the River
side Horticultural Society and it's
members in an effort to determine
the best form of frost protection" >"
Pretty much everything was tested
that had ever been suggested. Litera
ture was ransacked in our own Ian
guage and the Spanish The aid Of
the government observers at San
Francisco was invoked Mr.. Everest
had built lattice shelter over large
acreage on his ranch to test the value
of prevention of radiation by that
method This was found to affect the
temperature sufficiently to attain i'm
munity in all but extreme cases. But
owing to the cumbersome nature Of
such structure, it was too expensive
to remove and erect each season, and
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