The state herald., 1916-10-27

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- made It possible to raise the
temperature Of 2O0-acre orchard ten to if
teen degrees with much certainty as the
janitor can heat the city mans fiat 1t takes some
what more labor than the last mentioned process
but the satisfaction and the profits of heating all
outdoors" are surprisingly greater Frost insur
ance for the fruit crop is Just as practicable
just ms certain. and vastly profitable for the
money expended than either fire or life insurance
insurance by fire for the fruit grower makes
vastly greater profits at n much smaller expense
than Insurance against fire does for the merchant
or manufacturer The little outdoor oil stoves md
coal furnaces thnt have been sold by the millions TO
orchard owners In the Inst yea and n half have
panished from the fruit grower that annual early
spring nervous prosration from fear Of frost; that
periodic, parayzing fear that he inay go to bed Mt
night and awaken to find his whole years labor
chilled TO death by sudden frost The curnulotive
despair OF losing three four fruit crops I'm sue.
cession that has put fruit growers out of business
and made them dependent on charity or day labor
Is past. An orchard with reasonably Industrious
and provident owner can be made to Yield un aver.
age crop every season far MS the frost is con-
cerned. Scientific frost fighting with fire. is us
much a fnct as seed testing, Irrigation ferIlzlny
spraying or pruning. II is the last and greatest
advance In systematic horticulture and has placed
the fruit grower abreast OF the scientific farmer
Since the beginning Of commercial horticulture
the fruit grower has been at the mercy of the ele
mens. He made all his calculations. all his plans
all his business arrangements contingent on the
nope that the frost would miss him. And before
the development of orchard heating the chances
against him were getting worse In the frost belt
In the modern. commercial orchard. the land, ma
chnery, labor. spraying equipment and cultivation
total as heavy an investment ms many manufacture
ing enterprises. And when two or three crops I'm
succession were wiped out by frost the average
grower WIS completely bankrupt.
Smudging, or the formation OF n dense blanket
Of smoke over the orchard. had been practiccd with
varying degrees OF In parts OF Europe.
Orchard heating proper was first used In Cafor.
MIA. md the original California smudge pot is still
successfully employed In many orchards. In the
spring Of 1910 several growers In the Grand valley
Of Colorado. experimental with the burning OF oil
In simple pots Of the lard pail" type. with the
result that they saved their entire crop the hcat
cd areas and lost II on the unhcated trncts. The
spring Of 1911 saw the adoption Of the smudgc pots
on every fruit section OF the state, and they
reached the experimental stngc In several other
states In the spring Of 1912 there was not fruit
growing state without them. md many sections
OF several states were ns fully equipped us Colo
RADIO
Frost fighting Is not mn easy job. II s ncces
snry to have n force Of men. Industrious md care
ful md observing to the Inst degree And II IL no
pleasant task TO rush out Into the STILL cold dark.
ness to drudge the better part OF the night TO save
your own or your ncghbor's orchard. In the enrly
days OF orchard heating, n man was detailed TO
witch the tested thermometers that were hung In
different parts OF the orchard mud NJ the fnrin'
house some distance nwny from the fruit trees.
II the temperature was not sinking fnst. perhaps
the rnnchcr went to bed FOR brief mp. setting his
nlnrm clock TO wnkc him nt Intervals through the
night. Nowadays he can go to bed with n feeling
OF security leaving the frost alarm thermometer
to witch for him. This electric wntchmnn Inns for
It's business end In the orchnrd n specially mndc
thermometer. with n fine platinum wire fused into
the mercury Mt the freezing point or nj whatever
IL considered the danger point AS soon ns tho
mercury sinks below this wire. the circuit Is broken
md the nlnrm Mt the hcad OF the orchard boss
bed rings out It's warning. Any interruption OF
tho current cnilscs the bell to ring 40 TINT " tho
uppnrntns should be put out of order II nutomnt.
icnly tells on Itself
gut the orchnrdst IN usually forcwnrncd, even
bcfore he goes TO bed, nnd mikes ready for the
,rny In,c In the afternoon he notices great icccy