Show I 1 ta FIGHTING FROST IN by james richard lancaster and robert hugh skeggs grand junction colorado tile the superb color splendid keeping qualities and delicious flavor ot of the fruit raised in the grand valley or the grand junction fruit district colorado Is well knon the world over As late as the year 1902 there yet remained hundreds of acres 0 of arld arid laud land which could be bought as low as five dollars per acre and in some sections ot of the valley lands could lf bought tor for even less price however a portion of the unlimited amount ot of water from the gunnison and grand rivers has been brought into use ilse for irrigation ini gation purposes which has caused a steady increase in the price 0 of thie thia land until bearing orchards are now selling as high as 1500 per acre ta alfalfa fields from 10 to per acre and raw land ranging in price front from 1 40 0 to per acre As a result of the irrigation thousands ot of acres or oc arid land has been brought brough t under tinder cultivation ti i i I 1 on oil account of the increased amount of water placed upon this land during durl n p recent years the climate his has be been en changing gradually from year car to ye year ar and during ery cry recent years frost has been making mailing its appearance so late aa to seriously damage the fruit crops it was the original plan years rine nini nin i to plant the land to peaches exalus i ve ly but owing to the early blooming of peaches and the danger of early frost I 1 in the h past seven n years almost all new orchards have been planted to apples and pears the frost continued to put in its appearance still later each berr and since 1906 the last full crop of 0 shuit harvested liar vested including all vari varieties e tie 8 though we must except here a small section in the eastern end of the valley which by nature has been unusually protected by the palisades or perpendicular cular cliffs rising from tle t e edge 0 of the valley almost perpendicular to a height of 0 several hundred feet between the walls of which there is 1 utmost I constantly a wind blowing fruit ailt raising has been anything but a moneymaking money making proposition with bearing fruit orchards with a belling valuation of 0 from to ftp per acre the fruit crop bein being ees es troyed by frost it was necess ne cesAry try ay hy some means to overcome thin aroa problem and prevent a panic ir fr vind lind prices throughout the valley I 1 artificial heat applied to oralle gio EI OT ves lidd been successful in its rocta lr c ks in california but it had only ben b en necessary there to increase the temperature pera ture a degree or so while here it I 1 was important that the temperature c should should be raised during freezing periods from five to seven d angrees In arees grees and possibly as much as ten degrees in some few instances during dunns trie spring of 1908 along about the fa faisst st of alarca three growers of tile alloy secured ire from Cali california lornia some so me oil smudge pots and using keros fae it at a price of fifteen cents per golor undertook to fight the frost smoking and smudging the orchards here had bad been attempted in a erode erde I 1 manner tor for many seasons in vie fie way of using wood manure brush ord id in fact almost any kind hind of old sili that would burn it had been cato c alo mary just prior to sunrise or bout the peep of day to light these cheso furs files I 1 as at this time the suffered hirst st danger owing to the sun thawing out the frost but if the frost is chused bv 1 v tile thermometer dropping drop pius 1107 bel 7 ap MI ty eight degiers degi ees heat Is necessary though smoke is helpful it was with great interest that the growers throughout tile valley w t ched the experiment of the three or chardis ts using the oil heating healing atus in the spring of 1908 ind 1 cf l though it was their first attempt with no former experience they successfully fought five nights of ind and Y von on not winning by a i but being safe at al all I 1 times nal an 1 avci I 1 their entire cros cro s consisting of cf apri cois cota pertches es 1 A pear si 5 fuld rh cherries erries they did great tarl and they should be given credit for lor saving the fruit lands of grand valley these three were tile only ones in the valley with the exception of the especially protected portion above noted which however suffered considerable damage that produced tile the fruit shipped from grand valley in the fall of 1908 it is always remarkable that some people cannot be shown there were a considerable number in the valley among tile alie growers 1010 attributed the success of these orchards to being in especially favored spots and thesa growers about ten or twelve per cent of the total number of growers trust trudi ed to providence again this year and will be repaid for their doubts by losing fit their fruit chops again heating with kerosene was too ex pensive for eiery pot in two or three hours will burn fifteen cents worth of 0 oil the growers were anxious to get something cheaper crude oil was secured this spring it at a cost of from I 1 four and a half to live cents per gilion tills this was found to be even less than one third of the expense incurred in it using kerosene oil three quarts of 0 crude oil off will burn three hours making a much hotter and a more teady steady s lire fire oil however must be hauled a long distance to reach the growers as it comes from the eastern slope of the Ro brockles ckles no oil is to be had on the western slope owing to this long haul and the price of oil oll while the grand valley enjoys a great abundance of coal at liand hand the mines being in fact at our very doors and the price ranging ficini two to four dollars per ton during the summer and fall of numerous tests here made with coal continued of page five FROST i IN COLOR continued flout first page burning pots there were ere more thin than a dozen different inventions of these pots during this time thue these tests proved ery satisfactory and by far the largest proportion or of the growers oi of the valley provided themselves li selves with wilh coal burning pots it is estimated that seventy live pel cent or of the richards were protected by either oil or coal pots fill this I 1 r season easo and rill bavei bave their entire atop ethcie vill be some bruic although sc scattered att ered in the orchards oiL those not smudging the first heavy fi fiest ost of this season occurred on oil the oi of april and abild the temperature fell to twenty degrees above zero the orchard heaters kept the temperature inside of the orchards during this time at not less than thirty degrees and in some instances as high as thirty six showing that by artificial heat temperature can be held ironi eight to sixteen degrees above that obtaining where no smudging is being done the prevailing type of oil pot and that is the first pot used in the grand valley is made of sheet iron and is similar in size and shape to the he ordinary laid pail and made to told hold about three quarts ol 01 0 oil round holes about half an inch in diameter are cut near the top for ventilation purposes covers of sheet iron are always placed at hand near each pot in order that the fire may be smothered out by placing them on the pots when it is no longer necessary to keep them burning these pots are kept filled with oil in advance A small piece of rag or waste floating OR on the surface of the oil is used as a wick for lighting fighting when it becomes necessary to light up lip tho the torch is carried in fit the hand aud and the pots are fired as quiel quickly kly as the lighter can run bioni pot to po pot some ot of the glowers have found it 1 much more desirable and they cla claim ni quicker to cairy with them a 1 bot bottle t ae of gasoline sp ing a few drops over the file oil this instantly igniting the oil on oil application or the torch pots of this design cost about thirty cents each A hundred pots abc used to the file acre it is estimated that the cost of smudging by oil will average throughout a season bioni fifteen to aen twenty ty dollars per act abic c 1 I 1 another oil pot he uscio ui v which 1 c faint claim it to be 1 tar it superior to the one above described very much resembles lesem bles the asif ash pan nan of the ordinary cook cooking ilig range ra lige and of about the same dimen I 1 eions to this is added a sliding cover to tho file cover is attached lit an apron which extends into the oil by the sliding of this lid the heat or fire surface can be so regulated as to give from one half to three times the alie heat i Ing foice possessed by the round pot these pots are somewhat more expensive that is the first cost but require less attention in that they contain oil enough to burn over several nights of light frosts we shall not go into detailed de of all the different styles and forms of coal pots used owing to the vast number some of which N are good some fair and some bad one of tho the best pots used is about ten tell to twelve inches across flaring daring upward and out waid vai d in a round shape to a diamond at the top eighteen to twenty indies inches these pots are provided with a cross grate about three rows of bentila tion holes about the size of a silver dollar are cut out of the sides it is necessary in using the coal pot to have it covered allowing the space ot of about two inches between the pot and the cover for draft pi ont rot doity ty to sixty pots are used to the acre and a load of twenty pounds of coal will burn about three hours it should bo be understood that while it is a strenuous ii work ork it is by no means a complicated oin affair nor should one possessing a small orchard be deterred front from protecting it from frosts ou on account of not having some especial smudge pot at hand jr if a fruit grower lias has the necessary energy it is a simple simile matter for him to construct sonic some kind of a heating apparatus that will burn coal or almost any vessel that will ill 0 leold I 1 o id oil will answer for an oil pot lot I 1 it t is well to caution growers that the file tempera temperature tuie should be closely watched and they should not wait un tl of it has fallen to the danger point twenty eight deg degi degiers tees ees for it is far easier to hold and raise the temperature it if the fires ire are lit at thirty two or even thirty degrees glowers experimenting with smudge pots should be care fit kiil liil inot not to set the pot too close to the tree for when the fire reaches its highest point of heat it may damage both tree and fruit it is not feces sary for fruit to be lost even where the temperature chops as low as twenty degrees and even should the orchard be isolated for in ill 11 many lany instances in the grind grand valley orchards of this kind which wore were isolated have had equally as good chops as those in fit more thickly settled communities given the alie lowest temperature to which a country Is subject figuring on the basis of increase of ten to twelve degrees in heat one can easily tel tell 1 I Nh whether ether or not it will pay to attempt smudging ing nels anderson accompanied his son andrew to salt lake city saturday to see liis his started on ills his journey to denmark A suitable and pleasing st it tor lor ANYBODY can certainly be found among adiong our great vai variety bety ot of novelties each piece in a dainty xmas box peters jewelry co tt tr have you seen the display of bedal lions and art pictures at the eddy drug store john 11 forsgren came in bromel nood monday moaning on some matters of business letu ining home in the auto can now buy round trip tickets from any station on ane salt lake route to beaver by automobile front from ask nearest agent for hill particulars tt xmas booklets portals Po tags and enclosure cards are in abundance and are the most beautiful and attractive designs that are made get then at comptois comptons Com fancy japanese wood and make inake appropriate xmas pre presents I 1 get them nt it comptons comptois Com the home grown trees for sale by the filist growers groni ers association are the cheapest when aou ou consider that we guarantee our stock to be true to name give your wife or sweetheart a diamond you know she has always wanted one we have them in in rings aiom 1000 to and in brooches 1 up to peters jewelry co tf our g gibat eat variety ot of novelties each ic 1 piece 1 in a dainty xmas box peters jewelry co tr tf N L IIan Ilan sens shoes are better 1 I 1 the oddy drug store will be pleas ed cd to take your subscription lor for any magazine sir fr H M fennemore division com mercial superintendent of the R il bell tel co was in brigham yesterday inspecting the local plant outfits and fa fancy ncy wood pieces oi of every description to bum buin also art leata leather e r goods at comptons comptois Com elder eider downs at mixed dressing S saco acques aes ues and coats that keep the lidies ladies and babies warm C hoist son tf t |