The state herald., 1916-10-27
ME OZ1H12 RUIxEU EX0 ar
Ht0WALAe7

clouds hurryng from the northwest. chased by
bitter wind which seems TO have been intended
for January, rather than this April night. He goes
to the post office for the days mail and In every
window the warning of the diligent local gov
ernment weather forecast Freezing temperature
tonight" by seven O'Clock the government ther
mometer is ut 81 md falling fast As Z 80 o'clock
he telephones the weather man and gets the reply:
Bitter cold all over the country: temperature IL
already down TO thirty-seven In many parts of the
valley and will drop to twenty degrees on the
western slope OF Colorado tonight" BY eight
O'Clock II has fallen TO ~. his alarm begins to ring
and he knows that King Frost with his icy-fngered
warriors Is marching on the camp. Steam whistles
are beginning to shrek nll through the valley to
warn the growers of the ainlght siege. Farm
wagons laden with conl and oil rntte past, giving
evidence that the lnggnrds who have been hoping
to the last. are beginning to get their heating ma.
chincry into action Already the early ones nre
firing heavily. Clouds Of smoke hang low over the
trees and the little spots Of fire beneath punctuate
the blnckpess with rays Of hope.
The orchard Hrcmen dash FOR the trees. u torch
In one hand, md gasoline can to MD In quick
lighting In the other. Dashing few drops OF gaso
line the OIL they apply the torch. and the blaze
Is Mt work. The lighting IL done fast the
men walk through the orchard. leaving II trail
OF smoke md fire behind them. In fifteen min.
utes each man has his tract OF orchard transformed
into of flame under cloud OF smoke
Then comes the first period OF rest. The
gather In the packing house or barn. for lunch or
smoke making occasional trips To the thermome.
tcrs to see that the fire s doing Its work. by 9;30
o'clock the thermometers outside the orchard reg.
lister 2s md those In the area Of heat show com.
Portable 81 Then the frost fighters know that the
battle Is hnf won. for keeping up the temperature
IN n good deal easier thnn rnlsng II when II Inns
once reached the limit. The rest Is mnitcr OF
vigilance. II the heater In Of the regulated type
with enough fuel to burn through the night or
longer. few left to watch md open
the burners wider II later sudden fall Of tcmpern.
turc shows that more fire IL needed. II the heaters
nre Of the uniform slnglc.burncr type. they mny
need To be rcicd when they nrc nearly burned out
if The frost battalion should back for another
charge The outside thermometers drop to "a, md
those In the orchard stand nj 80. the danger mnrk
OF the orchard frost fighter The heaters nrc
opened wider. or rcnllcd " burning low. md the
mercury shoots up 10 30. The eight degrees OF
frost hns been driven away md II the oil supply IL
plentiful nnd the labor uningglng. the orchardist
may now consider the battle won. When the sun
Inns shed his rays over the trees long enough to
make the outside temperature more ncnry thnt OF
the orchnrd. the hcatcr, nre shut or by merely
putting on the covers
Heating In the spring q 1911 wns much ensicr
thnn TINT OF the year before mud proved more con.
cluslvciy thnn ever the effectiveness OF the fires
The crop In the Colorado fruit nrcn for 1911 nvcr.
ngcd about 30 per cent. The unhcntcd orchards