The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1909-06-23

Roswell, N. NJ, June 21. 1903
To the Editor of Roswell Record,
Roswell, N. M.
Dear SIR
We are constantly receiving inquir
les as to the success OF our expert
| ment in orchard heating or "smudg
, ing in the Southsprings orchards this
spring
It is a matter of much Importance
to the whole valley, and 1 beg leave
to answer all inquiries through your
paper. We are very glad to give the
public the result of our experience.
Orchard heating iby means of coal
or oil burning pots has been practiced
in Colorado for four or five years.
but never with great success until the
pots and smu1ge fires have been used
for longer period.
1t has been satisfactorily demon
strated that with a hundred and fifty
pots TO the acre a temperature of 81
degrees fahrenheit above zero can be
raised sufficiently to prevent de-
struction of the fruit. This Is an ex-
tre:ne case. 1t is extremely unusual
even in the higher attitudes of Cal
orado for the temperature to fall 10
such a point that an artificial rise OF
from 6 degrees to 8 degrees will not
he sufficient to save the crop. The
number of pots to the acre necessary
to produce a certain amount of heat
depends largely upon conditions.
When the foliage Is far advanced few
er pots are required than when there
is but little foliage With a high
cold wind the difficulty is increased.
though, from our own experience,
would say that with slight breeze
blowing effective smudging is more
practicable than when there is no
breeze at all. =
Sixty to one hundred pots per acre
will raise the temperature to 10 de-
grees, according to conditions. This
is. think a fair statement.
From study OF the weather records
of the past seven years it is safe to
say that IL one Is prepared from z0he
18th of March to the 1st of May to
raise the temperature in his orchard
6 degrees Fahrenheit between the
hours of 100 a. m. and 700 a. m, he
is reasonably sure of saving all his
crop from injury by frost.
This can be done by having a max
inum of 80 one gallon pots to the acre
ready for lighting during that period.
1T is very probable that a smaller mum
Der of pots would be sufficient, but,
with 80 pots per acre In orchard plant
ed with not less than so trees to the
acre, one would, in my opinion. be
reasonably safe.
1t is to be remarked in passing,
that frosts during the period of bud
ding and early growth of apples in
this section are rare, and that the ex-
pense OF smudge pot equipment is to
be regarded as any other kind of in
surance would be re8ara1ed,-as well
worth the Investment in xiew of the
great profit their use would, in case
of necessity, insure. 1t should also be
remembered that IL there are late
frosts here, they are very rarely Sc
we're ones, and can almost surely be
controlled by smudging, whereas sta
tistics prove that when there have
been mild frosts here in March and
April, there have almost invariably
been very severe ones, very difficult
to control at about the same time, in
other principal apple growing districts
OF Colorado and the middle west. For
instance, the freeze which 1t is sup
posed Is the one that did most of the
damage to the fruit here this spring
occurred on the morning of May 1st,
between $50 a. IN. and 6: 80 a. m. and
the temperature did not fall below
29k degrees or 80 degrees Fahren-
heit. At Canon City. Colorado. there
was on the 18th OF April a regular
January blizzard with a temperature
Of 81 degrees for over five hours, and
a twenty mile gale blowing On the
following night in Canon City the tenn
perature for eight hours was down