Page 10 



BETTER FRUIT 



February, igso 



Practical Methods in the Use of Orchard Heaters 



ORCHARD heating, like spraying or 

 any other of the special depart- 

 ments involved in fruit raising, 

 must be conducted on absolute rules 

 prescribed by the work if the grower 

 hopes to obtain a high degree of suc- 

 cess. In spraying there are many men 

 who condemn the practice, but this con- 

 demnation comes from the man who has 

 made a failure of it and not from that 

 large class of up-to-date hardworking 

 body of fruit growers who by follow- 

 ing scientific methods are today realiz- 

 ing handsome returns from their or- 

 chards. 



There are many growers who do not 

 believe in orchard heating, but these 

 are the very same men who never be- 

 lieve in anything which is an innova- 

 tion in past history and methods. It is 

 right here that I desire to point out an 

 analogous case of business judgment 

 which compares favorably with the or- 

 chard heating subject. Where, for in- 

 stance, can the intelligent man be found 

 who will refuse to protect a twenty 

 thousand dollar building against fire 

 through the agency of an insurance 

 policy due to the cost of the annual pre- 

 mium. Yet, there are thousands of fruit 

 growers with ten to twenty acres of 

 modern orchard capable of producing 

 an annual crop valued at a gross of 

 from .?500 to $1200 per acre who refuse 

 to safeguard the same against the rav- 

 ages of frost. Suppose that the frost 

 cuts the crop down to 2,5 per cent of its 

 normal production, or in other words 

 a frost loss of 75 per cent. If the normal 

 crop was valued at ^500 per acre, the 

 loss in dollars and cents is $325 per 

 acre, leaving a gross return from the 

 orchard of only $125. Just think in fig- 

 ures for a minute in order to argue this 

 subject with yourself. Say the orchard 

 heating work costs $25 per acre, (which 

 is almost the maximum) and a normal 

 crop was secured through orchard heat- 

 ing. Is not the frost insurance premium 

 a mighty small item of cost? 



In this discussion of the rules to be 

 followed for practical orchard heating 

 work the writer does not aim to chal- 

 lenge a dispute with so-called scientists 

 who have experimented with orchard 

 heaters in a laboratory, and who could 

 not make a living in a real orchard if 

 someone else put up the money and did 

 the heavy work. Scientific knowledge 

 coupled with practical work are the 

 components which has made and is 

 making the fruit industry of today and 

 the future. 



The sole aim of this story is to out- 

 line a series of practical suggestions on 

 orchard heating which may be used to 

 advantage by the practical grower — the 

 grower who is in the fruit raising busi- 

 ness for the profits which it affords. 



First comes the question of fuel for 

 operating orchard heaters, which com- 

 prises crude oil and coal. The former 

 is more convenient in every way though 

 in certain localities the price of oil is 

 high due to the distance from the source 

 of supply, and the price of coal is low. 



By George Calvert 



In this case coal heaters are to be con- 

 sidered. When it comes to a question 

 of selecting an orchard heating equip- 

 ment this is an important subject for 

 the success of orchard heating depends 

 upon the ability of the heaters to do the 

 work desired. First of all the heaters 

 must be able to make sulficient heat to 

 offset the frost forming temperature 

 within the orchard area. The heat pro- 



Orch.ird healers in operation. 



ducing capacities of the heaters must 

 therefore be able to cope with varying 

 degrees of temperature which visit each 

 fruit district at a time when ihe crop 

 native to the locality is at the critical 

 period of growth. Almost all fruit belts 

 of the United States are subject to a 

 frost and a low temperature reaching 

 15 degrees above zero, and it is this cold 

 temperature which the fruit grower has 

 to combat, although in most fruit belts 

 the extreme low temperature mentioned 

 above is rarely reached at times when 

 frost is a factor. One may have ideas 

 to the contrary but it is a fact neverthe- 

 less. As an illustration the conditions 

 existing on the extreme Southern Penin- 

 sula of Florida may be pointed out to 

 advantage. This semi-tropical latitude 



is subject to frost from December 20 

 to March 20, although of course that 

 section does not have injurious frosts 

 every succeeding year, yet the danger 

 is there all the same and the growers 

 cannot afford to take a chance with 

 their valuable produce without the pro- 

 tection of orchard heaters. There are 

 many fruit belts in the far west where 

 growers havo been placed in financial 

 straights due to the almost entire loss 

 of crops in succeeding years. So it is 

 well to illustrate the safeguards which 

 orchard heaters afford. 



The month of April is usually the mis- 

 chief maker among growers of all 

 deciduous fruits and the conditions ap- 

 ply in all sections both east and west. 



Much confusion has existed among 

 growers in the practical utilization of 

 orchard heaters, so well defined rules 

 will be helpful to obtain the greatest 

 success. An abundance of fuel for re- 

 filling the heaters should be provided 

 in order to combat thoroughly every 

 time frost appears, for unless the job 

 is done completely the growers had bet- 

 ter save the expense, because the work 

 will produce far greater results than 

 the man who makes no attempt to pro- 

 tect his crop. 



The heater should be placed in the 

 orchard at least ten days or two weeks 

 prior to the blossoming, but when frost 

 is impending it is well to arrange two 

 rows on the north and west-ward sides 

 of the orchard as from these directions 

 usually come the accompanying winds 

 which bring the low degrees of temper- 

 ature. Many, growers have had excel- 

 lent results from arranging the heaters 

 in the form as shown in diagram No. 

 1. Others prefer to arrange them as il- 

 lustrated in figure 2. As frost forma- 

 tion moves in streaks over a given sur- 

 face of land, it has been proved that the 

 arrangements indicated in figure 1 has 

 been equally as successful as the ar- 

 rangement shown in figure 2. The 

 double row affords an abundance of 

 heat which will drift toward the inner 

 area of the orchard provided wind ac- 

 companies the low temperature and the 

 distribution of the heated air in the or- 

 chard area is kept in circulation to bet- 

 ter advantage and prevents the forma- 

 tion of frost. 



There are many different types of oil 

 heaters on the market and a good plan 

 for every practical fruit grower to 

 adopt is, to get a sample of each make 

 and try them out under his own tests. 

 For a few dollars he could secure be- 

 fore purchasing an entire equipment, a 

 sample of all the different styles and 

 by this measure he can soon determine 

 upon the device which meets all the de- 

 mands of the work. It is well to warn 

 growers not to purchase an equipment 

 of orchard heaters which make an ex- 

 cessive amount of smoke when burning, 

 for a fruit tree is in its most tender 

 condition of growth at the blossoming 

 point and the delicate little blossoms 

 are often injured by an excessive 

 amount of smoke and soot, which not 



