rUOTKCTlXc; OKCHAUKS against 1'U()8TS. 265 



Mav lo improved inothods of aji^ricultiire and horticulture. 

 Meteorology has often pointed out new fields of conciuest. I 

 well remember, when the question of Nebraska as a possible 

 sugar beet country was first mooted, how Professor Nichol- 

 son <ame down to Doane College, which was then the head- 

 quarters of the Nebraska AVeather Service cf volunteer ob- 

 servers, to find out by consulting our weather records whether 

 or not our climatic conditions resembled those of regions like 

 southern France where the sugar beet was known to thrive. 

 It was found that they did, and so an important new indus- 

 trv was added to our somewhat meager list. So should the 

 work of the meteorologist in observing and studying our at- 

 mospheric conditions, and the work of the grower in testing 

 the behavior of new varieties under these conditions, go hand 

 in hand. 



PROTECTING OECHARDS AGAINST FROSTS AND 



FREEZES. 



W. L. HOWARD, PROFESSOR OF HORTICULTURE^ UNIVERSITY OF 



MISSOURI. 



The problem of protection from frost is as old as fruit 

 growing. It Avill be of interest to briefly review a few of the 

 methods employed in the past. 



In Italy and also in France cloth screens have been exten- 

 sively used to protect both trees and vines from frosts. The 

 screens were strung on wires stretched on poles. Twelve to 

 fifteen years ago screens made of laths were used to cover 

 trees in Florida. Although the laths were an inch and a half 

 a part, they afforded considerable protection from frost by 

 confining the warm layer of air to the earth. 



In California sprinkling devices have been fitted to the 

 tops of 50-foot poles and by this means the air was filled with 

 a very fine spray. This extra moisture in the air, in almost 

 every instance, proved to be a sufficient protection against 

 frost. On the same principle fruit trees have been protected 



