The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1909-01-01

colder air will drop down into the lower
sections and force the warmer air up
ward. Take the temperature in your
dwelling and see how much hotter it is
at the ceiling than down on the floor.
Place a thermometer at the lowest
point on your farm and one at" the
highest and you will see, if there is
much difference in elevation, that the
thermometer on the highest elevation
stands several degrees higher, at a
given time in the morning, than the one
on the low ground. Once my peaches
were nearly all killed by frost while
40 rods away and about 80 feet higher,
were not killed. That year he had 700
my neighbours peaches not more than
boxes of peaches on 80 trees, while I
had but 800 boxes on 1,400 trees. This
led me to buy broken forty acres just
north of my neighbours and now have
400 young peach trees on land as high
and higher than his.
AS a rule, therefore, I would never
choose a broad fiat piece Of land with
no lower land near by, for the best
location for an orchard. To this rule
there are some exceptions. I know of
a few locations where the land is low
and level where damaging frosts rarely
occur. The reason for this exemption
is that the configuration of the sur
rounding country is such that a current
of air flows through the orchards at
;-rL4 Ty, fho
by happen to be on the north, the heat
absorbed during the day is given off
during the night and this may prove
a protection. We all know that frosts
do not occur on cloudy nights. The
reason for this is not far to seek. AS
soon as the sun goes down the heat
absorbed during the day begins to ra-
date. The longer this continues with
out any obstruction the colder it will
be at the surface of the earth. Clouds
check the radiation and thus keep the
heat at the surface for longer pc
Rod. If the night is very clear the
radiation will be greater than when
it is cloudy. Here is where the value
of smudging in peach orchards comes
in-the smoke, if made to hang over
the orchard, checks the radiation.
Where a person has already bought
his land, the best thing he can do is
to thoughtfully consider the question
whether his land is suitable for fruit
growing. 1t may not be the very best,
as in my own case, but it may not
ho no 70 10
profitable to a reasonable extent. If,
however it should appear that frosts
will be so bad that fruit crops will be
very frequently killed and it's owner
will have fruit to sell only when every
body and all sections have an album
dant crop, then my judgment would be,
try some other kind of crops. I know
how bad a man feels when he gets up
in the morning and finds that frost
has robbed him of $4,000 in few short
hours. Beware of the INSCRIPTIONS
land boomer who will show you how
very successful some man has been in
one of the best localities and then
takes you off fifteen or twenty miles
and sells you a nice piece Of fiat land
where you may lose your crop half the
seasons. The land boomer may not
know any better, because he may never
have studied such matters.
Some years fruits Of all kinds are
so plentiful all over the United States
that there is not very much profit to
any grower Then there comes year
Of great scarcity, like 1907, for instance,
when prices are phenomenally high.
Then to have a good crop is the time
to make up for the small profits Of the
years of plenty. But if grower finds
that on account of his frosty location,