El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-11
Frost Cripples Fruit Trade
Citrus Fruit Yield of California Last
Year was Valued at
SIS 100000.
BY Frederic J. Haskn


citrus fruit districts of Califor-
MIA, whereby some three-fourths of all
/, the oranges were so badly frozen as to
warrant their exclusion from interstate
commerce under the pure food laws,
came in spite of the practice which
now obtains in many quarters Of
SmUdglng orchards 10 prevent frost
. The test which will determine the fit
ness of California oranges to go upon
the market this year will be the cut
ting into two halves of oranges Sc
tected at random from each lot, and
if they reveal more than One-fifth Of
each orange to be pulpy and without
juice they cannot be sold.
Crop Brings $1S,OOO,OOO.
This law will hit California very
heavily this year. since the orange is
the backbone Of the citrus fruit indus
! try, as the fruit industry is the back
bone Of CalifOrnia's crop yields If all
the orange trees Of the state were TO
be planted in one grove with 80 trees
to the acre, it would make great
grove q mile wide and 225 miles long
California has more than 5O,OOO,O00
fruit and nut trees, three-fOurths uf
them in bearing. In addition to these
il has $4,000, 600 grape vines. There
are 100000 bearing and 100000
growing orange trees in the state, with
100000 lemon trees besides Last
years citrus fruit yield exceeded $780,
600 boxes, and brought nearly S1S,0OO,-
600 wholesale.
Cheap to Take Precautions
Most Orchardists and growers Of
semi-tropical products have learned
that II is cheap investment to take
precautions to save their crops from
killing frosts. Travelling through
the Ozark region Of Missouri, one may
pass thousands Of acres Of fruit trees,
and everyone of them will be pro-
tected in frosty weather by crude oil
burning IN smudge pots and spreading
a heavy pail of smoke over the or
rnarnE q
statesmen of the SOS and COS. man
who came close to becoming the nOmi-
nee of his party for president, had a
very large orchard One year there
was a cold wave At an outlay Of
some 5000 for SmudCing, he saved
his crop Of apples and he sold il Tor
SS5,O0O, while his neighbOrs who used
no smudgcs had no apples. After that
he had plenty Of imitators.
Three Methods to Overcome Frost.
The principle upon which frost pre-
Tention by smudging is based is that
OF ar drainage Cold air seeks the
low ground just as water seeks the
ocean, and anything that viii help TO
drive 1t out and force it to mix with
other strata of air tends to reduce the
possibility Of frost In order to over
come frOsts three methods have been
tried out-eXplOsiOns, smudgings, and
heating Explosives were first used
in France to protect the grape crop.
Later Albert Suger, an Austrian bur
gOmaster, who owned extensive vine
yards in the lower slopes Of the Bache-
mountains, was much troubled with
hailstorms. He decided to drive the
clouds away by the use Of explosives.
De established a series of six mortar
stations on as many Of the surround
ing mountains, each built Of wood and
shelterlng 10 heavy mortars, each OF
them loaded with a. charge OF four and
half ounces Of powder He manned
these stations with volunteers made up
from the small vineyard owners
around him, and as soon as storm
came into sight all hands repaired TO
their respective posts and fired the
mOrtarS- simultaneously until the cloud
was scattered or blown away. The ex-
pertinent is declared to have been a
success.
Greatest Damage By Sun.
The greatest damage done by frost
to fruit buds is not in reality, the
work OF the frost itself but Of the sun
the morning after That is why the
smudge comes in so well It not only
has a. tendency to prevent radiation,
and therefore, like the clouds, to pre-
vent frost, but more important it pre-
vents the suns rays in the early morn
ing after from striking the buds while
the frost is upon them. Some Of the
early attempts to make smudges con-
sisted Of heaps Of saWdust and like in
flammable materials burnt at sunrise
on frosty mornings Another plan was
TO make steam enough to cover an or
chard like a fog, but that did not
work.
Lemon Trees In Valleys
Whenthe lemon growers Of CalifOr-
MIA started in to grow lemons they
planted their trees down in the VAL
leys. The result was that whenever
there was a Stil, cold, clear morning,
the snOw-breath Of the mountain peaks
slipped down into the valley and
nipped the buds Them someone
thought that If the groves were
planted along the higher plateaus, Ihe
cold air would not be able to stop en-
route to the valleys below and the
lemons would therefore be immune
from attack. And so it proved, ard
that is why California fruit fares so
we'll
Burners Heat Orchards.
Another method of preventing dam
age by frost consists Of heating an or
chard- On man patented a wire basket
which held some kindling and coal
These were used. about % to the acre.
Another invented a briquet composed
of sawdust oil refinery refuse and
low grade oil In California oil heat
ers are used. One type consists OF a
sort Of bucket affair with a central
draft tube. It weighs, with the cover
Ing. less than two pounds, but holds
seven quarts Of OIL enough to burn 10
hours.
For several years thrilling frost
fights were held by the orchardists
of Colorado and at last, in 1909 two
men saved half Of their crops by heat /
ing half of their orchards, and lost |
the other half The object-lesson was
so striking that the growers at Can
yOn City appointed an orchard heating |
committee, the first in the history Of !
orcharding. With $1,000 at their dis |
pOsal they made expensive experiments
in frost damage prevention, and finally /
came TO the conclusion that heating /
with oil was the best procedure. Now, /
in some sections Of the state, every
commercial orchard has its heating or /
smudging equipment
A member Of that committee after /
ward reported to the department Of /
agriculture that the orchard heating
campaign saved 100000 worth of /
fruit to the state. They could raise 4
the temperature II degrees. with 100 /
pots to the acre. In one orchard sew
eral acres were left unprotected. and
while the remainder of the orchard 4
yielded a banner crOp-15,0OO boxes /
there was not a single box @ apples |
on all the unprotected trees.
Alarm Clocks Awaken Orchardists.
Some orchardists have gone so far as 1
to install thermostats in their orchards, |
which are, in turn connected with elsc- 1
trio bells in their bedchambers. The /
moment the mercury falls to a certain /
point the thermOstat recognizes it, and