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Show FRUIT CROP 15 HIT HEAVILYJIY FROSTS Damage Is Unusually Severe Se-vere From Provo, Utah, to Twin Falls, Idaho. GARDENS ARE INJURED Apricots in Brigham City Section Said to Be Entirely En-tirely Wiped Out. Heavy frosts that amounted to actual j freezes in some sections, accompanied ; by cold winds, have wrought ruinous 1 damage in the fruit belt of Utah and Idaho, according to information received re-ceived yesterday. Tree fruits have suffered suf-fered most, but the damage has expended expend-ed to berries, garden truck, alfalfa and other crops as well. It will be impossible, impos-sible, experts say, to give any accurate estimate of tho damage done for at ; least several days. , j Temperatures ranging from 2 to 10 j degrees below freezing point prevailed throughout this section Tuesday night, according to weather bureau reports, and despite the fact that frost warnings were issued, farmers were unable to prevent pre-vent serious losses. Another frost warning was issued yesterday, and it was predicted that last night would see further damage done to the dying crops. Utah, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Box Elder and Cache counties all made reports re-ports of serious injury to their crops yesterday to J. Edward Taylor, state horticultural inspector. In some instances in-stances tho injury amounted to a total loss. Reports received from Twin Falls, Idaho, were to the effect that the fruit crop for the season had been completely com-pletely wiped out by "the frost. Some other parts of Idaho suffered almost as heavily. Heavy Loss to Tomatoes. Canners of Utah are likely to face a serious shortage of tomatoes and peas, especialy as a result of the frosts in Davis county. Some estimates, from expert sources, place the loss to the tomato crop in that section as high as 50 per cent. For the first time in the history of commercial tomato production produc-tion in the county, growers declared that plants under frames which, had not yet been set out were frozen down.. On account ac-count of the lateness in the season and the shortage of sets, it will be impossible impos-sible to replaco the plants destroyed. Dangerous inroads of the alfalfa weevil are feared by farmers in Davis . county, as well, due to the freezing of alfalfa. The growth of the alfalfa is thus retarded, they say, and the plant! weakened, thereby giving the weevil an opportunity to do destructive work before be-fore the plants recuperate. Sugar Beets Injured. Considerable damage to young sugar beet plants was also reported from vari- J ous sections, .but experts of the sugar; companies do not expect this damage to be as serious as that done to the fruit! crops. Almost ovcry sugar factory in ; this section, however, has sent in more or less alarming reports of frost damage. dam-age. Some of the plants, however, are expected to recover from the shock. Brigham City was among the heaviest losers in fruit. With tho possible exception ex-ception of peaches, all fruit crops were affected. The apricot crop was a total loss, while 90 per cent of the strawberries straw-berries are lost. Sweet cherries also suffered heavily in this section, the loss being estimated at 75 per cent of the crop. Walnuts are also reported to have been badly damaged in that section. From Bear River valley, also in Box Eldervounty, equally alarming reports were issued. Damage in Utah County. Utah county possibly suffered the ; least, .but W. H. Homer, of Pleasant Grove, reported to Horticultural Inspector In-spector J. Edward Taylor yesterday that there was considerable damage all along'the Provo bench, the exact extent of which could not be determined for at least a few davs. Pr. E. D. Ball of the Utah experiment station at Jjoaan reported to Mr. Taylor vesterdav that fruit and early garden truck had been damaged by a frost that amounted practically to a freeze. C. H. Smith of Davis county reported that the damage to the tomato crop in that section might amount to SO per cent. Sucar beets also showed the e fleets of the freeze there, he said. Apphs were badly damaged in many localities, and in parts of Idaho the prune crop was said to have been almost entirely en-tirely killed. While some of the fruit affected is expected to recover later, as is often the case in sprint; frosts, experts agree there is no question but that the damage will be unusually heavy and will amount to many thousands of dollars. |