The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1909-01-08
SMUDGING AT CHARLESTON


usually large crop of fruit last sea
son. They received their first sug-
gestiOns about smudges from read
ing the government agricultural bull
letins. A year ago last spring two
or three fruit-growcrs tried smudges
and one of them, Mr.. II. J Hues-
bey, was very successful. He alone
had any considerable crop that sea-
son. This year practically every
rAncher on the flat used them, with
the result that the yield of cherries
and peaches was far too large to
handle. -
The object Of the smudge, is to
produce steam over and through the
orchard. Dry heat and smoke are
useless because both rise rapidly in
to the air without settling around
the trees.
The ideal method Of steaming an
orchard is by the use of spraying
watts under which sufficient fire is
kept, to boil water in them, but as
the cost of these is such that no
rancher has more than one or two
OF them, their employment is cut
of the question in the average orch
ard. The best smudge, all things
considered, consists of dry fuel and
tar on which wet leaves, straw or
manure is thrown. A hole Il feet
or 2 feet long, l foot wide and 1 foot
deep is dug on the edge of the orch
ard and into this the dry and wet
fuel and tar are put. Some ranch
ers put pieces of tin or galvanized
iron in the bottom of the holes, in
order to prevent the tar soaking in
to the ground. Mr.. H. J. Huesbey
whose ranch of 20 acres is the larg-
est on the fiat, did not use the tin,
and burned only one quart of tar
to each smudge on any one night
His ranch is on hill slope on the
edge of the fiat. He used smudges
on the two upper sides of his orch
ard, digging in all about twenty
holes. From these smudges, the
vapor settled down over all his trees
so that the fruit on none was iniur-
ed.
Some ranchers burned smudges
among their trees, and some put
them in the streets. So universal
was their use, that the whole flat
was covered with vapor. Mr.. Hues-
bey's place is so far to one side of
the fiat, that his trees did not re-
ceive the benefit of the smudges on
other ranches, and for this reason
his experience is the most helpful
to others. For his twenty acres he
used only twenty smudges, each one
consuming about a quart of tar a
night. Many of the fruitgrowers
! kept smudges burning all night;
others watched the thermometer
and started them only when the
danger point in temperature was
about to be reached. Mr.. Huesbey
found that as rule the thermometer
dropped to freezing point at 2 or 8
O'Clock a. M, and started his
smudges then. A smudge made of
a reasonable quantity of wet straw,
leaves or manure, one quart of tar,
and sufficient wet leaves, straw or
manure to fill the hole, would pro-
duce steam three or four hours.
When it was started burning at 2
or O'Clock a. m. it continued
steaming until the sun came up in
morning. This, of course, is the
most economical way to use
smudge. 1t accomplishes all that is
desired with the least expense and
effort. Should the temperature be
low all night, smudges would need
to be renewed once or twice. One
rancher stated that it was very i'm
portant to keep smudges burning
until after the sun was well up in
the morning, to prevent the sudden
warming of the fruit while chilled
by frosty air.
ncAcTcnV AccnolArlnN asrrr,uo