202 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



to produce spraying of water, somethiiig like the spraying 

 we liave been hearing about today, with a spraying pole be- 

 tween every tree. This has been successful, but it proved too 

 costly to carry out and too dillicult to manage. A few years 

 ago in (.'alifornia they coninienced to experiment with oil, 

 with coal oil heaters. There is a distinction between the pro- 

 tection by smudges and the protection afforded by heaters. 

 We all know that on a cloudy night there is not much danger 

 of anything being injured by frosts because the clouds hold 

 what heat there is in the atmosphere close to the gi'ound. 

 This same result is produced by smudging, which forms a 

 dense smoke over the orchard and holds the air to the ground, 

 which is about the only beneficial effect to be gained by 

 smudging. In the use of heaters of the various types for coal 

 oil the results are derived from the amount of heat they will 

 produce. It has been said that by the use of heaters the tem- 

 perature can be raised from 2 degxees to 12 degrees. In many 

 places where they have crops destroyed by frosts the raising 

 of the temperature 3 or 4 degrees would Imve saved those 

 crops. In California and Colorado they have saved a good 

 many crops. One of the principal heaters now used and go- 

 ing to be used, especially in this section of the country, is the 

 oil heater. They will hold from 3 to 10 gallons of oil, there is 

 a 5-gallon one burning outside the building now, and they 

 will burn about ten hours. It is necessary, in nmny parts of 

 the country, only to burn them a few hours to protect the 

 fruit. An oil heater is built so you can govern the heat. Tliis 

 smudge oil can be furnished for about 3 cents a gallon. If 

 necessary to burn the pot all night it would take about 15 

 cents to run one pot all night, 100 pots to the acre would be 

 about |15 per acre per night, and the pots themselves cost 20 

 cents — from 20 to 50 cents, depending on their size. If you 

 had a frost that only occurred one night it would only cost 

 you |30 to |50 an acre for that protection. If you were in 

 any other business you could not afford to lose |1,000 for the 

 sake of refusing an outlay of |50. Another thing that you 



