Imperial Valley press., 1937-04-15

due to freezing.
The season as a whole was cold
with an average temperature 2.3
below normal, November and De-
cember being Slightly above nor
NAL with January 10 degrees be-
low and February below. There
were 46 nights on which the tenn
perature fell to 80 degrees at some
survey stations and nine dates on
which the temperature fell to 20
degrees or lower at some station.
With the exception of the 1888
81 season the winter was the dry
est since the beginning of the fruit
frost service in the fall of 1890.
The total rain fall which occurred
at scattered intervals was half an
inch.
Heavy snow blanketed the noun
tainS west of the valley from Jan
6 to February when a warm air
mass reached the district with val
ley temperatures above 80 degrees.
Sunlight and visibility were
greatly reduced on Jan. % by the
thick smoke drifting down from
southern California from the in
tensive orchard heating.
Effect of the freezing on crops
is reported by Baughman as fol-
lows: At the time of the Jan. %
26 freeze approximately SO per
cent of the grapefruit had been
harvested and practically all Of
the remainder was damaged by
the frost with probably 80 per
cent or more rendered unfit eX-
cept for by-products.
Flax was damaged slightly, an
estimated 10 per cent being killed;
barley upper leaves were damaged,
alfalfa was frozen to the ground
in many areas, but by Feb. Is new
growth was 6-8 inches high and
first cuttings were from 2-3 weeks
later than usual.
Date palms suffered considera
bly, but the extent Of damage is
slow in becoming evident.
Tomatoes, squash and other ten
der vegetables were almost entirely
killed with the exception of small
paintings where the soil was dry
and where plants were protected
from thaWing by shading in the
early day.
Where plants were producing
fruit, tomato and squash vines
were killed outright. Protection
from rapid thawing however bene-
fitted as those growers who had
it were able to salvage great guam
titles Of fruit by letting it ripen
in the sun after the cold Wea-
ther passed. In some instances
enough fruit was sold in this way
to offset a substantial portion OF
the loss.
Extreme low temperatures did
not damage lettuce except to burn
some outside leaves and prohibit
harvesting during low tempera-
lures.
Asparagus growth was delayed
approximately one month by the
cold weather.
Many cantaloupe and watermel-
on growers replanted their fields
100 per cent in order to insure
production, but after a few weeks
plants began to improve at re-
markable rate.
Damage to the spring pea crop
resulted in probable killing of 40
per cent of the vines and a prob
a nf nj
60 per cent. Pea growers expressed
appreciation of the weather bu-
reau's frost warnings which per-
mitted them to run water on many
of the fields to reduce damage.
Orchard heaters were used in
small, isolated tracts.
Irrigating was done to prevent
damage to citrus trees and fruit.
Where orchard soil was damp, and
especially where flooded or water
was running in burrows, a not no.
ticeable superior tree condition was
evidenced by less damage to fol-
iage.
Damage to lemon and grapefruit
trees was most noticeable, orange
and tangerine trees withStanding
the cold with less apparent dam
age.
Frequent bulletins were issued
warning of the approaching cold
weather and in every instance two
days warning was given, growers
and shippers expressing their graf
itude for the service. Advice as to
care of automobiles and tractors, as
we'll as for crops, was given.
Baughman predicts that it is
probable that orchard heaters
should be installed in orange groves
particularly in the colder regions
if oranges are to be produced prof
itably from year to year AS for
grapefruit, which will stand tenn
peratures of % degrees or lower
without material damage and with
the present overproduction and
resulting poor returns, it would not
be advisable to install protective
equipment for the fruit, although
protection for the trees is another
problem, since it is not improbable
that severe damage would result
with temperatures 20-24 should
they occur in the early winter
when the trees are still in succu-
lent condition.
The garbage pail or other open
pot heater seems to be most logl-
cal for use here. This heater holds
about nine gallons OF oil and has
a low first cost. Wind machine
during the January freeze proved
of fittle benefit although with usu-
al radiation frost there would be