The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1911-02-03
THE FROST
ew the work carried on last Spring the Rogue River Valley
From the Genealogical Summary the Government Weather Bureau

The work of frost prevention dur
ing the past season of spring frosts
mas been carrie don most successful
~. The scope of the work has been
such as to include practically all the
better orchards lying on the valley
1ioor, and the demonstrationos can
not be considered in any other light
than being entirely practical. The
experimental work carried on in only
a few orchards three seasons ago has
been taken up and extended so that
at this time it is believed that the
matter of frost prevention In the or
chards of the Rogue River Valley Is
settled problem. During the past
season there were just few or
'chards in the danger zone carelessly
left without protection; luckily these
nave served as a check on our work.
In every case the unprotected or
chards lying within teh frost zone
were badly damaged, and. in some
cases. teh crop entirely destroyed.
while the protected orchards did not
show frost mark or ring on any
Of the fruit.
During the past season much valu-
able data have been secured. espec-
tally in the matter of orchard fuels
and appliances to be used in frost
prevention. AS in the past two
years work. wood and coal have
proven entirely satisfactory, but
somewhat cumbersome and diff cult
10 handle. Besides. the wood piles
in teh orchards have been more or
less in the way. making it somewhat
difficult to cultivate or work the soil.
The same may be said in regard to
spraying or carrying on any other
orchard work However, these ma
terials have proven so satisfactory
to those who have used them during
the past three seasons that they seem
willing to accept the difficulties oc-
casioned by their use and will con-
tinue using them in the future. To
Mr.. J. c. Gore should belong the
credit of first using wood successfully
AS fuel for orchard firing in the
Rogue River Valley. During the
past three seasons Mr.. Gore has saw
ed pear crop on his Z 1-2 acre Bart
lett pear orchard. His first firing
was done with old rails which he
took from an old fence surrounding
teh orchard. Later he used cord
wood with equal success. The crops
harvested during the past three years
have been unusually clean. free from
all frost marks and very heavy. The
trees are about 81 years old at this
time, and the average annual crop
for the paast three seasons has been
approximately twelve carloads. His
results are in striking contrast with
those who failed to protect their or
chards which are even less exposed
than is Mr.. Cores orchard.
Not only has Mr.. Gore saved his
pear crops. but his apple crops as
we'll, with the exception Of the past
season when one freeze found him
unprepared and he did not have time
to distribute fuel in the apple Or
chard. AS a consequence, a large
part of the apple orchard failed to
set fruit on account Of the blossoms
being frozen. In this particular case,
the apple orchard, which is directly
south of the pear orchard, could not
be benefited by any firing in the pear
orchard. since the slight air move
ment was from the south to north.
Mr.. Gore has had the opportunity to
see the other fuels tested. namely.
coal. crude oil. and distillate; but he
is Of the opinion that wood Is to be
preferred. A number of other. grow
ers share the same opinion and are
now preparing for next seasons frost
fighting campaign.
Crude oil, direct from the Cali
fornia wells, and % degrees test dis
til'ate have been successfully used.
In the past, crude oil was very little
used on account of the fact that 1t
was difficult to obtain it sufficiently
Tree from WdtcI. IAO"C'SA. ooiAa
this season a very good grade OF
crude oil, practically free. from wa
ter, and at a cost Of about 1-2 cents,
per gallon laid down. was very large.
ly used in some of the large orchards
with entire success. This oil was
burned mostly in the Fresno pot. or
heater. with about 60 to 70 pots per
acre; the actual cost for one nights
hiring per acre. including the labor
necessary to fill the pots. was about
$3.O0. The crude oil was very easy
to haid.e and was distributed in the
orchard by means of a large wagon
tank carrying lines OF hose. The
hose was attached at the rear end OF
the tank. and the nozzle carried by
the laborer. With two men for each
tank. two rows of pots could be filled
almost as fast as the team could
walk with the loaded tank. A record
Of some of the work OF filling the
pots was carefully kept, and the av-
erage showed that six men could
easily fill 1000 pots in s hours. At