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Show Sell ffros?alfea r rriMj: Crops M- iW.CTy'CK A Jkt Gufi4 &tJA - , , . C i sums. fv pkj MV'W AIN'T NATURE GRAND! nT S- v,ir-. -r t iSVit 1 .iiii ill's (Hid learns and beams and smiles, s XN. y Lj) Willi san and ijenlle showers, r ! " - tt - With all her sprinttime wooinr wiles, ' s f s 'C'1 LX I On grass and trees anihf lowers; - v A - f ! i"? I I And Hum she gels her live wires crossed - v V- W vr. V A ' , " V,,vF v4 F I" I And goes and flirts with old Jack Frost, I ' " A '! V LssuJ I Although she knows the brute I - J'- 'l'Z 'V J-3 v Thinks il smart and cuU ? ' - - A f "''V , , S To nip bud, blossom, fruit! ' S,?: 15 ' W ! then she smiles the same old smile . V 'VF JW. W ' i 'II And works again the same old guile : C c , 'A-&Ar ' 0,.' ICW . f rrJK , Bv kindling numeious Tn beat the hand 4 . VXv, f Sma11 tre thl ay be Jo hot, he band f ' SI, rTJf'AVTS . done The hot ga e .WWemZ Lm4XM Mh4 ru.hmg upward ftom ' -J.D.S. V'VS. IT .nnjK each bln,e lift and toe ?"'4- PF V2V "" ' Efx laers until a maimer J iX WO cold snaps this spring caused wide- VVfe' N'VFi ' m.xtuie ,s applied to the k -d oe Marches ,el, into 01;,ahoma. WmT IfS 0 overlapped the nonh line ot . the nrst USXfWW ' itTt fjfl frost. The northern limit of damage XA 'ljJJs , ' qualitj, ery ell Ulus li in both runs up to the Great Lakes ffe-; trated in our homes. Dl- and in Minnesota and New York and . - ' rect ra(lation ls the sort AIN'T NATURE GRAND! ihe smiles and beams and beams and smiles, Willi, sun and gentle showers, rllh all her springtime wooing wiles. On grass and trees and-f lowers ; And then she gels her live wires crossed And goes and flirts with old Jack Frost, Although she knows the brute Thinks it smart and cute To nip bud, blossom, fruit! And then she smiles the same old smile And works again the same old guile On all the land To beat .the band. Ain't Kature grand! I J. V. s. f O c0'(l snaps this spring caused wlde-ry- spread damage to the fruit crops. f, ( The southern limit of the one at the VJ. end of March was well into Oklahoma, "p0 tyfr'B Kentucky and Maryland. The one in ty'iy!f'jr April (lid not extend so far south, but .WfS f overlapped the north line of the first 1 2 fl'ost- The northern limit of damage jS " in btn nms UP t0 l'ie Great Lakes k and in Minnesota and New York and Vermont, clear to the Canadian boundary. Keports are that the damage is heavy in places. For example, two experts of the crop reporting service in Missouri estimated the damage to fruits and early vegetables at $10,000,000. The apple crop in Washington, Benton, and other oth-er counties in the northwest Arkansas fruit region will be practically a total loss. Peaches and cherries cher-ries were killed and strawberries damaged almost CO per cent. Dispatches said about 05 per cent of the fruit crop in Oklahoma Is ruined. It is estimated that Nebraska's crop of early cherries, apples, pears, and plums is a totul loss. The early varieties of fruit in some eastern states also suffered heavily. Early peaches, cherries, and plums probably have been killed in southeastern Pennsylvania, j The cold weather seriously damagefl the fruit crop In the southern part of Ohio, where the fruit was far advanced. Thousands of Maryland fruit trees were in full bloom when hit by this frost. Growers in Washington Wash-ington county, the center of the western Maryland peach belt, report the peach c'op destroyed. t The fruit crop in Kentucky apparently was killed. Therefore the following article, prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture, Is worth the attention of every fruit grower: The weather bureau of the United States Department De-partment of Agriculture has been able to discover the weapon used by that old enemy of mankind, Jack Frost, and in a recent published report it tells the fanner and fruit grower just what Jack's invisible weapon is, and how, under ordinary conditions, con-ditions, the sprite's own artillery . may be used against him. Frost, of course, occurs whenever the mercury drops to :2 degrees F. or lower. If much moisture mois-ture is present in the atmosphere this drop in temperature" is manifested by the white crystals of frozen moisture upon leaf or grass s'tem, and there is what is known as a "white frost." If the temperature drops to the required degree and does not reach the point when water from the air Is condensed, there will he few crystals deposited, de-posited, and the result is a "black frost." A "freeze" is the term applied to a condition of cold more permanent than a frost, and such a condition may occur when there are high winds. True "frosts" occur only when the surface air is relatively rel-atively calm. Temperature, like- water, seeks a level. During the day the earth receives more heat than it can throw off, but at night this supply of heat is stopped. During the day the heat thrown off by the earth warms the thin blanket of air next the ground. This blanket, as It warms, loses its density and ascends. Cooling as it rises, presently present-ly It encounters air of its own temperature, and there It stops. Meanwhile Its place has been taken by other colder air, which Is in turn warmed by contact with the ground. This exchange goes on until, at sundown, all the air of a wide layer above the earth has been warmed, and the highest high-est temperature is felt nearest the earth. Earth Squanders Its Heat. Now, with the sunset, old earth begins to suffer from a bit of aerial trickery. All day long he has been patiently passing out heat to one cold air layer after another; night comes, and with it the loss of his source of supply, but do these warm upper layers pass back any of the heat they begged during the day? They do not unless they are made to. The layer close to the earth does, and thus they leave their coldest blanket against the shivering earth while they sail about 10 or DO foot above their late benefactor, serene and warm and selfish, little caring that the spendthrift spend-thrift earlh is freezing his toes below. As the earth becomes colder the air blanket next his brown old skin becomes colder, too, and heavier as it becomes colder, so that the colder it grows the more ti;ht!y it tils, and he has little chance of tlivowinu' oT his chilly coverlet to seize a vit:;ri'r Z'co. Ti c r:irth. !o; prodigal of his day-time heat, regrets his generosity of the sunshiny sun-shiny hours. On rainy days, when the cloud strata has cut off the sun's heat, the earth is not much warmed during the day. If, during the night, the clouds blow away, the earth is apt to go bankrupt; That Is why, when the season is passing from spring to summer, or from summer to fall, a three days' rain is so often followed by a frost. The first clear night presents heat bills to the earth which he is unable to pay, and Jack Frost, nature's sheriff, places' his crisp seal upon the improvident old fellow. The farmer looks out across his blasted fields in the morning and sighs, "A killing kill-ing frost last night." And this is because the old earth, already gray with age and experience, hasn't yet learned how to "save up for a rainy day !" The most common method for frost prevention is to establish a sort of savings bank for the old fellow earth. liest assured that he'll spend his reserve if he can ! Glass makes the best heat savings sav-ings hank. It has the curious property of allowing allow-ing the heat from the sun to pass through to the earth, but it will nof allow the radiated heat from the earth to go back to the "eager air." Gtass is expensive, however, and can be used only for the protection of comparatively small areas of ground. Wood is also a good watchman to set above the' ancient profligate. Though it will not allow heirt to pass from the sun as glass docs, neither will it allow it to pass outward from the earth. In sections of the -South a lath network is used to cover crops during the danger periods. The wooden wood-en network holds down a large amount of heat, and when a frost occurs it helps the frozen plants by shading them from the direct rays of the morning sun and allows them to thaw gradually. Quick thawing of the frozen water particles in plant or fruit is fatal, as it causes the cellular tissues to break down; if the thawing process is very gradual the plant may reabsorb . the fluid and the damage done may be surprisingly slight. Various Methods Used. Paper is of less value in conserving heat than is wood, though it is more efficient than cloth. Cloth allows that cold mendicant, the air, to penetrate pene-trate to the earth and steal the last degree of heat from him. So a cloth covering must he quite heavy if the frost, is a hard. one. Iron or metal pots are not at all good as bankers for the earth they allow the heat to pass back into the air almost al-most as readily as the earth itself. There is another method that is employed to save the spendthrift from the sheriff. The presence pres-ence of moisture in the air makes the radiation of heat dillicult and helps greatly to conserve the heat which the earth already holds. Also, if the temperature drops to freezing each drop of water gives up a bit of latent heat before congealing, and all these tiny contributions help to keep the surface air warmer. A breeze from ocean, lake, or river will usually bring this wet blanket, and It can sometimes be supplied in an artificial mannei by letting water into irrigation ditches. Results not so good may be had by building damp smudge fires in the orchard. or-chard. Cranberry growers often save their crops by flooding the area with water. In the event of extreme cold it is often possible to submerge entire en-tire areas growing this crop. This gives absolute protection. Less prodigal than earth, water keeps its reserve heat for long periods of time. Force Air to Be Honest. The third method of keeping the earth solvent is by adding heat to the air layers near the surface. sur-face. This is done by means of many small fires of oil, coal, wood, or orchard refuse, and is a method well known in sections where fruit growing grow-ing is a specialty. It is sometimes scorned as an attempt to "warm up all outdoors," but that is not what" happens, exactly. We know that, at night, the air above the earth ls warmer than the air directly against it. Therefore, if the lower low-er and colder strata could be lifted and mixed with the upper air, a higher and more equable temperature would result. Bv kindling numerous small tires this may be done. The hot gases rushing upward from each - blaze lift and toss layers until a warmer mixture is applied to the earth- The hot gases servo to assist in warming the chilled atmosphere, but the effect of direct radiation amounts to very little. This difference in heat quality is very well illustrated illus-trated in our homes. Direct Di-rect radiation is the sort of heat given off by the wood-burning parlor stove when its hot sides are glowing on a cold winter night, while the hot gases given off by combustion pass up the chimney. This method of preventing frost is very efficient, and each year it saves much money for American fruit growers. Just how it is best applied, how many fires are needed to the acre, and the form and style of burner giving the best results, are well discussed in the Weather Bureau Bulletin No. 10DG. Many a fruit grower has nursed an expensive orchard to the point of bearing only to see his well-deserved reward vanish in a single night. But more and more we are discovering that, if we cannot defy certain natural laws, we may still nullify their results through a better understanding understand-ing of their principles. This is what the up-to-date fruit grower does. He cannot eliminate frost, but he can use its principles to protect himself him-self from its effects. Tips to Orchardists. The weather bureau bulletin treats the frost-prevention frost-prevention methods! very thoroughly, and the pamphlet should be particularly useful to anyone who owns an orchard or who contemplates planting plant-ing one. First of all, the experts point out, the orchard owner should determine whether his crop will pay the expense of protection ; if it will not, then he had better move to a less erratic climate. Certain fruits will stand a lower temperature than others, and the experts furnish a temperature chiyt to show this. Here it is ; Temperatures Endured by Blossoms for 30 Minutes Min-utes or Less. Closet! After but Show- Full Fruit Has Fruit ing Color Bloom Set F. F. F. Apples 25 2S 2 Peaches 25 26 28 Cherries 25 28 0 Pears 25 28 SO Plums 25 28 30 Apricots 25 27 SO Prunes 28 29 30 Almonds 2ii 27 30 Grapes 30 31 31 Charts which show in a graphic way how the fires should he distributed through an orchard are reproduced. These have been prepared from studies made in successful orchards and are the result of the best methods in use in this country-Overhead country-Overhead costs are discussed, as well as the care of the frost-fighting apparatus. s Records Should Be Kept. Once an owner decides to fight Jack Frost for his profit it is most important that he keep records rec-ords of the battles, so that he may refer to them when the next skirmish threatens. The knowledge knowl-edge that a ten-mile wind will prevent frost when the thermometer is at 40 degrees F. at sunset may apply to only one fruit farm, but it will save that owner the expense of lighting his fires if he does know it. Records, if he keeps them, will tell him this. Several bits of home-made apparatus will save the frost fighter good sound dollars, and the pamphlet tells how these may be made and used. The effect of soot from the oil ftifmes upon the fruit blossoms is made clear to the reader in an account of experiments conducted io determine this problem. As a matter of fact, soot does not hinder the pollination of fruit blossoms, nor does it injure them in any way. From first to last, the United States Department Depart-ment of Agriculture Farmers' Bulletin No. 10!0 Is filled with valuable information for anyone who is attempting to grow fruits or vegetables in frost-visited areas. It is an invaluable manual for any person who may be appointed as temporary tem-porary receiver to stand between a shivering, bankrupt world and its ungrateful creditors. As stated before, this mundane sphere, in spile of a hundred thousand years of cold toes and chilly nights, has never learned to save in the sunshine of plenty against the night of want. And it i.cver will. |