PROTECTIVE METHODS BASED ON MIXING THE AIR.

It is well known that lowlands are visited with frost while hillsides and hilltops escape. Every fruit grower should study the topography of his land and plant accordingly. Wind-breaks are, as a rule, considered detrimental. No hard and fast rule, however, can be laid down. On a well-known lemon and orange ranch at Santa Paula, the

property of Mr. N. W. Blanchard, there are several large wind-breaks which have proven themselves to be of the greatest benefit in protecting fruit from frost. It would almost seem as if the citrus trees within a distance of 50 feet were directly protected by these wind-breaks. By planting a wind-break in the proper place, defects in the

topography may be overcome and air currents established where otherwise pools of quiet air would have formed. A wind-break dense enough and so situated as to interfere with any natural circulation and facilitating the formation of still areas or pools would, of course, prove injurious.

PROTECTIVE METHODS BASED ON WARMING THE AIR.

A large number of small fires, advantageously placed, will raise the temperature of the air several degrees. The Riverside Horticultural Club, testing the various methods which were in use in California, came to the conclusion that wire baskets suspended a few feet above the ground, and holding several pounds of coal or charcoal, made an efficient protector. This method was described by Mr. Edward Copely, of Riverside, Cal., in several articles published in the Riverside Press of April, 1896. The cost of the wire basket is about 10 cents, and if 40 baskets be used to the acre, the cost of fuel will hardly exceed $2.50. To this must be added the cost of labor during the night and succeeding day in refilling the baskets. In the accompanying figs. 13, 14, and 15, the baskets are shown in position. This method meets with most favor in southern California. The temperature can be raised certainly 3° or 4° with from 20 to 40 of these baskets to the acre. It has been suggested that a number of small oil lamps be used with success for this purpose. Oil pots have been used and make a hotter fire, but the deposit of lamp black upon the fruit is objectionable. Some cheap modification of the ordinary plumber's furnace might possibly be devised, which, by means of a moderate blast, would produce a high temperature.

PROTECTIVE METHODS BASED ON CLOUD OR FOG FORMATION.

Damp straw, old wood, prunings, manure, etc., when burned briskly furnish an effective smoke, and if the material while burning is doused with water the result is a dense steamy smoke, which, while trying to human lungs, serves as a screen to prevent loss of heat by radiation, and as a barrier between the chilled fruit and a sudden

application of heat at the time of sunrise. Wet smudging has been tried in many ways with varying results. There are many reports of failure and, on the other hand, some definite results, showing the good accomplished by this method. Here, as in all other methods of protection, much will depend upon a careful study of the local conditions. Many a farmer smudges so that some neighbor gets the benefit of his work, while his own fruit remains unprotected. All motion of the air should be noted carefully, and this is sometimes difficult where the smoke is very dense. In some orchards sacks of old straw soaked with oil are so distributed as to be available for quick lighting. Portable smudges have also been devised. Fig. 16 illustrates a portable device by Mr. Priestley Hall.

Mr. Hall has made an efficient form of sled operating on the wet-smudge principle. Upon a sheet-iron sled he has placed a small fire box, consisting of a grate 4 or 5 inches above the bed of the sled, over which pass iron rods bent in the form of an arch, leaving a space for the fire about 14 inches in diameter. This fire box is inclosed in a large corrugated iron box, which has the bed of the sled (about 3 or 4 feet in size) for a bottom, and sides 30 inches high. A door is made in front of the corrugated box to admit fuel to the fire. The box is filled with wet straw or manure, and a fire is maintained in the fire box when the machine is in operation. The cost is about $12; one will do for 10 acres.

PROTECTIVE METHODS BASED ON IRRIGATION.

Of all methods proposed for the protection of fruit, excepting wire baskets, irrigation has the largest amount of evidence in its favor. It has been tried in many different places with different crops and has generally given satisfaction. Where water is not very plentiful, and this is the case strangely enough in some fruit sections, the method

may not always be practicable, but with this exception there are many decided advantages in the generous use of water. Injury from frost depends almost as much upon the condition of the tree as upon the severity of the weather. Critical periods in the life of the tree can be controlled to some degree by the use of water.

Some fruit growers hold that heat is the one thing that is desired at times of frost, and that the best method is that which produces heat by the simplest and least expensive process. Water, owing to its high specific heat, forms

an excellent agency for the temporary storage of heat energy. We have seen that in the wet smudge an attempt is made to utilize the latent heat of vaporization, and theoretically this has always seemed the most advantageous method. A modification of the wet smudge is steam piped through an orchard. This experiment was made by the Wright Brothers at Riverside, Cal., with a 35-horsepower boiler and a main pipe 2 inches in diameter, from which,

FIG. 17.-Eight miner's inches of warm water in orange grove at Meacham Ranch.

at right angles every 40 feet, pipes three-quarters of an inch in diameter were extended. It is claimed that the temperature was raised 3° whenever the steam was turned on. It is also said that the coal consumed would not be more than the amount used by the basket method. The estimated expense per acre would be about $75.

The latest device for the protection of citrus fruit against frost combines the good effects of irrigation with heating. This is a method known as the warm-water method, tried at Riverside. An account of the experiment follows.

EXPERIMENT OF MR. ERNEST A. MEACHAM, RIVERSIDE, CAL.

"On the morning of February 9, 1900, at the Meacham Ranch, a test was made of the Meacham warm-water method of protecting citrus fruits against frost. The experiment began at 3.45 a. m. and was conducted in the presence of a number of gentlemen belonging to the Riverside Horticultural Club, nearly all of whom were orange growers. "At 6.30 a. m. the temperature of the ground 100 feet or more away from the boiler was 32°. The temperatures given herewith are those obtained by Mr. McAdie, of the Weather Bureau, with sling psychrometer No. 70; the number of the dry thermometer was 4487 and of the wet 4486. The plant consists of a 12-horsepower tubular horizontal boiler, laid in a brick furnace and arranged to deliver water with or without pressure. Cold water enters the bottom of the boiler and is delivered from the top orifice directly into the flume. The fuel used was crude petroleum, of which about 50 gallons were used in three and one-half hours. At the rate of 14 gallons an hour and an estimated cost of a little over 4 cents per gallon, the actual expense of fuel for the experiment was about 60 cents per hour. The oil is burned with a steam jet under pressure. A secondary 6-horsepower boiler, carrying 70 pounds of steam, was used. The oil is thus entirely consumed and makes but little smoke. The whole arrangement is such that not more than two men would be required to attend to all the details.

"Fifty minutes from the time of beginning, the water which had an initial temperature of 55.4° was raised 30°. Two sets of temperature records were made, one by Mr. Priestley Hall and the other by Mr. McAdie. In Mr. Hall's test 8 inches of water was run in 50 furrows, which barely ran the water past the ends of the furrows. In the second case 8 miners' inches of water was delivered into 25 furrows, thus carrying the heat farther down the furrows than

FIG. 18.-Lath screen at ranch of Mr. A. J. Everest, Riverside, Cal. (view from above).

in the first experiment. According to the present laws of California, a miner's inch is cubic foot per second; the 'second-foot' is the quantity represented by a stream 1 foot wide and 1 foot deep, flowing at the average rate of 1 foot per second. A cubic foot of water, maximum density, weighs 62.4 pounds; a gallon contains 10 pounds of distilled water at 62°. The data obtained by Mr. Hall were as follows: 5.30 a. m., normal temperature, 34°; normal temperature of water, 60°; temperature of heated water, 92°; at the flume, 92°; 20 rods from the flume, 58°; 40 rods, 52°; temperature of unheated water 40 rods from the flume, 41.5°; vapor condensed on trees early in the morning and more condensed on the trees in the heated plat.

"Mr. McAdie's records are as follows: Time, 6.30 a. m., air temperature varying from 34° to 36°; temperature on the ground, 32°; frost was observed on grass blades; initial temperature of water, 55.4°; heated water delivered to flume at 85.2°; in a straight line down a furrow 200 feet from the boiler in the direction of the wind (motion of the air was very gentle) there was a fall in temperature of 14.2°; water vapor was observed rising to a height of about 4 feet; 200 feet from flume, as stated, the temperature of the water was 71°; the temperature of the surface soil 4 inches right and left of the water was 43°; temperature of the soil 16 inches from the water or in the middle of the ridge, 42.2°. It is presumed that the temperature of the ground, had no water been flowing, would have been 33°, and it would seem as if the soil itself was warmer by nearly 10°. At the end of a furrow, 600 feet, the temperature of the water was 54°, or there had been a fall of 31° in 40 rods; the temperature of the ground 4 inches from the water, 38°; 16 inches from the water, 36°; temperature of unheated water 50 rods from the flume, 40°.

"The approximate value of the plant was $200, and it is estimated that for a plant all equipped sufficient for a 10-acre grove $600 would cover all expenses." (See fig. 17.)

SPRAYING.

After frost, or rather just before a frost has ended, a spraying device can be used to advantage. Its chief function is to prevent a too rapid warming of the chilled fruit. It is said by horticulturists that even the light coating of ice formed in this way does not seriously damage the fruit. It is very likely that the latent heat of solidification set free by the change from water to ice may play a helpful part; but the chief effect is to prevent a too rapid thawing. In other words, both heat and water should be supplied to the chilled plant slowly and according to the plant's ability to make good use of the same. At the A. J. Everest Ranch at Riverside, Cal., a portion of the grove is protected by sprinklers at the top of 50-foot masts.

PROTECTIVE METHODS BASED UPON SCREENING OR COVERING.

All screening or covering devices are in effect modified hothouses, and there is no question but that a thorough protection can be accomplished. The expense is the one objection. Screens are made of light materials, namely, canvas, muslin, or light wood work, and have been used with considerable success. At the A. J. Everest Ranch an elaborate structure of lath screens is in use, illustrations of which are given herewith (see figs. 18 and 19). There is no question as to the value of the protection, but the expense is considerable, averaging perhaps $400 to the acre. This lath covering may be considered as forming a well-ventilated hothouse.