The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1909-11-19

the temperature from Is to II de-
grees If burned without the top.
One hundred of the former pots
are used to the acre and they burn
about a quart of crude oil per hour.
Fifty of the latter are necessary and
40 inches Of heating surface will
give about the same heat furnished
by the other pots and will burn
about the same amount of oil. If
this latter pot is burned wide open
1t will consume one gallon of oil per
hour. Only in extreme cases would
1t be necessary to do this.
The coil pot, it is claimed, is
much cheaper to burn and far
cheaper to store supplies for, than
the oil pot, There are more than
dozen different patterns which were
used the past season ands it is not
necessary to 60 into detail as regards
all of them. One of them, much
used, will burn about three hours
with a charge of 20 pounds of coal.
Wire baskets have also been used for
coal burners, In fact, almost every
conceivable kind of an iron bucket
or basket has been used for this pur-
pose. The greatest objection to the
use of coal is the cumbersome work
of refilling the pots. as this entails
much labor.
Other fruit countries should take
warning from the experience of the
Grand Junction fruit growers. The
time to prepare for the spring frosts
is the fall and winter before. 1t is
too late to wait until the frosts ar
rive. 1t costs you from SIS to $40
per acre for pots for orchards,
whether you use coal or oil. Either
material will do the work. The
grower can use whichever he has
most conveniently at hand. To get
the best results, he should expert
mcnt with them during the fall and
winter months. Snludsing is not
complicated work. Somewhat irk-
some, but simple.
One grower in the Grand juno
ton valley, w. r. Haines. owning
an orchard of 95 acres, this year
smudged 80 acres. His pots, 1000
oil pots of the Hamilton variety,
cost him $500; he secured $4,000
gallons of crude oil at cost of 5
cents per gallon at his cisterns,
which figures s125O; his oil cisterns
or reservoirs, oil tanks and other
necessary Supplies needed for smudg-
ing as large a tract as this, brought
his expense up to about $4,000.
It was necessary for him to
smudge seven nights, in which
time he burned 10000 gallons of
oil, leaving him 1900 gallons Of
oil in stock. The pots, oil cisterns
tanks, etc., will stand use for ten
years without any additional ex-
pense. Figuring first cost at $275O
and dividing it by ten makes it a
cost of $275; to this add $500 for
oil each year and 500 for extra
labor brings the yearly cost to
about $S75. This makes cost of
about $40 or $11 per acre for
smudging with oil. Mr.. Haines
will harvest from 4O,OOO to $4,000
boxes of fruit from his tract. If he
had not smudged he would have
harvested practically nothing. AS
it is his crop will net him more
than $4,000. Does smudging pay?
This is only one grower; others
have been equally successful.
To light the oil pot a small
piece of waste is dipped in the oil
and hung over the side of the pot,
extending into the oil. a torcn is
carried along and the pots are
lighted as swiftly as the lighter can
run from pot to pot. Another
system used for lighting oil pots II
by sprinkling over the oil a few
drops Of gasoline, the torch ap