riJOTECTlXti OIJCHAUns A(iAINh^T FKOSTS. 267 



a little more than |5. The fuel per night cost from |2.50 to 

 |3, but it was unusual to have more than two or three nights 

 in a season when fires had to be used. Crude oil was also used 

 for the same purpose, but at first coal was the more popular 

 fuel and is still preferred by many. 



ORCHARD HEATERS. 



Beginning with the spring of 1907, the use of oil and coal 

 for heating orchards of apples and other deciduous fruits has 

 become very popular in Colorado. At some of the more fa- 

 mous centers of that state, notably at Grand Junction, the 

 temperature at the time apples are in bloom will sometimes 

 fall several degrees below the freezing j^oint. By tlie use of 

 orchard heaters, burning either coal or crude oil, it is claimed 

 that the temperature can be raised eight, ten, or even twelve 

 degrees. To accomplish such results it is necessary to use 

 the burners at the rate of 100 to the acre and to heat large 

 areas at the same time. Dangerous cold there often sets in 

 as early as nine or ten o'clock in the evening, and may last 

 until daylight or even sunup the next morning. 



However, with all these odds against them, the fruit grow- 

 ers during the past spring (1909) united and combatted the 

 elements all night for five nights, and every newspaper reader 

 is familiar with the details of their brilliant success in saving 

 their crop of apples, amounting to almost 4,000 cars. In this 

 instance both oil and coal burners were used. It is becoming 

 popular to speak of these as "smudge pots," but this is mis- 

 leading. While the burners do furnish a great amount of 

 smoke which 1ms considerable wortli as a smudge, their chief 

 value lies in the heat that they generate. The fires actually 

 warm the air, and it is only by keeping them going that it is 

 kept warm. However, if there is a slight movement of the 

 air, the smoke will drift along at no great height, and in such 

 an instance helps to prevent the escape of the heat, and thus 

 the smudge feature becomes useful. 



