Cañon City record., 1911-03-16
men
DIocaIIoe
DIOUUUU
HEATING
Enthusiastic Public
Meeting Held at
Court House.


orchard heating and devise ways and
means of combating the ravages of
the frost king In the orchards of the
Canon City district was largely at
tended and enthusiastic in character.
1t was presided over by Captain B.
F. Rockafelolw, chairman of the spe-
cial committee of the Fremont Coun-
ty Horticultural society, under whose
auspices it was called, who stated its
object and announced the speakers
scheduled to address the convention.
J. p. Farmer of Lincoln park had
been assigned to place on the pro-
gram, but was unuable to be present
at the meeting and paper he had
prepared for the occasion was read
by Francis Bachelor. He stated that
the results he had obtained from orch
ard heating were very gratifying and
that he was a thorough convert to the
proposition as a good financial invest
ment. Last spring." continued Mr..
Farmer, Il heated eight acres of my
orchard when the prospect of the crop
was imperilled by the frost and l am
more than satisfied with its success.
From the eight acres in question l
had at gathering time in the fall from
three quarters Of full crop to max
tmum yield. while in that portion of
my orchard where no ''smudging,'' or
heating was rcsorted to the trees
ranged in production from one-third
Of a crop to absolute failure The ap-
ples grown in the heated pert Of the
orchard were perfect in size and nav
or and kept better than those grown
in the neglected portion. am pre-
pared TO heat all OF my orchard this
year II the necessity for 1t arises as
1 am sure that II will pay me hand
somely. II the ranchers of the Canon
City district will unite for an intelli-
gent, faithful heating OF their orch
ards in case there is demand for It
a great stimulus will be given to real
estate values here and a bountiful
crop OF apples raised every year"
Phil Sheridan read a paper in which
he briefly reviewed the history OF Or
chard heating in California. Florida,
and in other sections of the country.
Mr.. Sheridan has been an enthusiastic
advocate of smudging for many years
and is one of the pioneers of the prac-
tice in this district. Other speakers
were N. z. Snow, F. r. Broughton,
DR.. Allan Bell. p H. Troutman, d. S.
Moore. L. NJ. Litz. S. J. Andrews.
Glenn Kirkton, Gus Stromberger, II.
s. Maddox and ID. n Cooper. Mr..
Broughton made an earnest plea for
combined action in the event the or
chards were threatened by the frost
this spring and recommended general
preparation on the part of the fruit
growers to heat their rochards as a
precautionary measure. Mr. Brough-
ton raised the temperature in his or
chard sixteen degrees by means of
heating pots last spring and held II
there all night. and. in consequence,
saved his crop from destruction. He
believes that no progressive up-to-
date fruit grower can AFFORD to ignore
orchard heating as an agency in the
production Of crop.
Mr.. Allan Bell was one of the most
ardent and eloquent exponents of the
orchard heating proposition and said
the ranchers OF the Canon City dis
trict would be recreant to their duty
as fruit growers II they neglected to
provide every means at their command
to save their crop from the frost in
case an emergency arose. DIR. Bell
attributes the very fine apple crop
grown on his ranch on Lincoln park
last year to orchard heating. DR.. Bell
Stated that by heating the orchard in
the spring when the trees were threat
ened by the freezing temperature the
best buds we're saved from destruc-
tion, and, in consequence. the ripened
fruit would be OF the highest quality.
Mr.. Troutman stated at the outset of
his address that orchard heating was
his hobby and that he advocated 1t in
season and out Of esason. He said
II had long ago passed the experiment
tai stage 20 far as Colorado was con-
cerped and that its wisdom was now
eenesaIiy reoogpised. He said that
instead Of shipping stx hendred or
ehenenad oaslesds of avp5ee from
unne6 Ql1yrs1egH yeae ycx 70
,,.s~es whvse>e anmb6g ahoM11 1T be