The Blackfoot optimist. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1907-1918, 1911-03-09
ORCHARD HEATING :
HEATERS PER ACRE

\Iapca uedu uIe SGaUe annual
horticultural Convention held at
Rifle, Colorado, December 18th,
1910 by P. H. Troutman, Gener-
al Manager Round Crest Fruit Co.,
Canon City, olo.)
For several years, ever since or
chard heating became an acknow-
ledged and important fcator i'm the
fruit industry. hundreds of ARTICLES
have been written on the subject;
some, merely theoretical; others
showing sad lack of knowledge of
the practical side of frost fighting.
while the balance have been of the
greatest value to the Orchardists,
and have accomplished great deal
of good. These articles have proved,
beyond doubt, not only the sue
cess of this method of protection,
but the overwhelming need of frost
prevention.
Not often, however, have amy of
these articles discussed the very i'm
pOrtant subject of 1.-The number pf
heaters reQuirde to the acre. I'm
fact, this subject has seldom been
discussed outside of orchard heating
dvertisements and it i $50 important
that believe ut deserves the closest
attention of this convention.
The question of the number of
heaters per acre Dis a delidate one to
handle especially for am orchard
heatermanufacturer without being
accused of viewing the matter from
prejudiced standpoint, and my
only excuse for bringing the subject
before you, is the vital Importance
CT having it discussed, and the fact
that l am not only a manufacturer
but fruit grower, who has the well
fare of thei industry lat heart.
l believe l am in a better posi-
ion to h4mdle his thesis than amy
other manufacturer, ON account of
the fact that we manufacture all
sizes of heaters, from the smallest
tc the lErgest,a nd therefore nothing
l have to- say should be construed
as further1ing preosnal interests.
Neither do l wish amy of my frields
in the same line TO business to take
anything l say personally, for l do
not want to condemn CIR support any
particular heater, what have to Sly
is jim condemnation of large fires and
not large heaters
Orchard heating. in its present
form, is o,.ly few years old, but
or another for many centuries. It is
said that Pliny, the Elder of Rome,
recommended the practice of smudg-
ing i'm the first century, and las early
as the sixteenth century, Oliver de-
Series, the famous Fsrnech horticul-
turaDist, speaks Of tits wonderful pro-
lection. In 1896, one of the south
ern provinces of Germany, e.aforced
a law compelling the orchardists to
protect their crops against frost and
compelled each man to- give his SER
was worked out, ON very much the
same system that forest fighting in
the Grand Valley lis today. Through
out this Tong career of frost fighting,
there is mot single record showing
the use of large fires, which sub
stimulates the theory that there is no
need for great heat locally, but
there is need of numerous small
fires, we'll distributed.
These OLD records would have
little value, however. If lit was not
for their substantiRting the theory
that modern science has followed.
Every scientific principle of ancient
or modern origin supports the
theory, that to get the best results
from a certain amount of heat, the
same must be thoroughly distributed.
The government i'm all it's reports
on smudglag or orchard heAating
makes a strong point of small fires
and warns the growers against the
use of large fires (See Farmers Bull
letin No. 1O4 and Year Book, De-
partment of Agriculture, 1909, page
1907 Furthermore the majority of
practical orchardists who have test
ed the various methods for them
selves, will agree with me, that the
best results were obtained with
small fires.
Large fires have the same effect
thst old fashioned hearth fires have
your face is scorched while your
back freezes. ;,
When furnaces were most gener-
ally used in large houses or build
inss. almost invariably two furnaces
would be used, as it was found that
two furnaces of smaller ytpe would
give more heat from ton of coal
than one large furnace.
81 h.