THE OFFICIAX, RECORD, OCTOBER 22, 1924 



DO YOU KNOW?— 



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FROST SERVICE FOR FRUIT CROWERS 



The prinelpal weather risk to fruit 

 growliig In tlie Vnited States Is the oc- 

 current« of frost, thc frost damage to 

 fruit Ix-int; i-elatlvely muoli larper than to 

 any otlii-r t-rop growii in this countr.v. 

 The apple is aiuoDX our hanller fruits, 

 blooms ooraparatively late, anil is less 

 subject to frost tlinn niany others, yet it 

 has been estimatcd tliat frost causes an 

 average loss In apples of some $14,000,000 

 n year. 



Tlimueh Its fruit-frost Service, the 

 Weatlier Bureau saves fruit growera 

 large sums annually. Several trained 

 men are assigned during tlie danser 

 perlod each yoar to frost worli in im- 

 portaut fruit dlstrlcts in the more west- 

 em States, and special Services are 

 niaiiitaincd in various other parts of the 

 country. This work consists of tempera- 

 ture surveys, the Issuing of forecasts and 

 wamlngs of frost, exi)erimcntal work as 

 to the most elTectlve and economical 

 niethods of protection, and the giving of 

 ad\1ce to growers and prospectlve grow- 

 era as to heating requirements and sus- 

 ceptihllity of localitles to frost danger. 



There are three general methods of 

 frost protection: Conservlng heat, stir- 

 rlng the alr, and adding heat by mcans 

 of flres. The most praetical and eco- 

 nomical method, eo far tested for Opera- 

 tion on a large scale, lias been found to 

 Im? the liumlng of a clieap grade of crude 

 oll in speclally constructed, but inex- 

 pensivp pots, wlth 8<J to 120 to the acre, 

 deiKMiding upon condltlons to l)e met. 

 TomiMTature surveys are condurted by 

 the Installation of a large numlicr of 

 si)eclul statlons e<iulpped wlth thermo- 

 graphs and thermometers in various 

 parts of an orchard, or In difTerent or- 

 chards of a locallty, to establisli the 

 thermal relatlon and Busceptihllity to 

 frost of localitles having difTerent topo- 

 graphic featurcs ; also as an ald In select- 

 Ing orchard Sites, where plantlng is con- 

 templated. One location may be eiitirely 

 unsuited for fruit growing, and another 

 near by, by reason of difCeronces in 

 topography, comparatively free from 

 frost 



Tbe Kuccess tbat bas attcnded this 

 si)eciul warnlng servIce and its praetical 

 applicatlon to fruit growing Is attested 

 by tbe fact that approxlmately half the 

 expense of thc service Is pald by the 

 growera themselTes, In order tbat more 



extensive Operations than the available 

 fuiids of the Weather Bureau will peruiit 

 may be had. In the vicinlty of Poinona, 

 Calif., there were, during the 1022 freeze, 

 appruxiniatoly 7.tK)0 acres of citrus 

 orchards e<iuipped for Bring. There 

 were consunied during this season about 

 1,380,000 gallons of oil, and tlie Informa- 

 tion supplied by the Weather Bureau 

 prevented the unnecessary burning of a' 

 very much larger quantity, whlch, to- 

 gether wlth other service reudered, saved 

 the growers inany hundreds of thousands 

 of düllars in this one district, as stated 

 by ollicials of the producers' Organization. 

 Experimeiital and advisory work com- 

 prises the testing, ander actual orcliard 

 conditions, of various devlces for frost 

 protection; determining tlie relative ef- 

 fectivencss of differeiit kinds of heaters; 

 testing personally owned thermometers 

 for use of the grower.s, and giving adviee 

 as to the proper exposure of Instruments 

 in an orchard. A Single purcha.se of 

 more than 1,600 thermometers was re- 

 cently inade hy an Organization of Cali- 

 fornia fruit growers. Tliese were tested 

 by the Weather Bureau, and all that 

 were found correct were sold by the 

 Organization to their members at cost. 

 The practice of orcliard heating is grow- 

 ing rapidly, especially in the Western 

 States. In a Single small district an 

 additiunal 20,000 heaters were purchased 

 for the last frost season. 



Wim EXTENSION FORCES 



LIVESTOCK MARKETING STUDIED 



A group of 40 Indiana county agri- 

 cultural agents met in Indinnapolis on 

 September 24 to make a study of the 

 market ing of liogs and cattle. Indian- 

 apolis is the principal market and ship- 

 ping Center for cattle and bog producers 

 In the countics represented by these 

 agents. It was feit that a better knowl- 

 edge of the type of animals wUiih bring 

 top prices on this market and the man- 

 ner of handling cattle and hogs in transit 

 aud on their arrival at the Stockyards, 

 would materially aid the producers in 

 fitting their stock to meet as uearly as 

 Iio.sslble the market demands, seil most 

 readily, and bring the best prices. For 

 this puniose the agents came to the stock- 

 yards to get tirst-hand Information. 



A day on whicli recelpts would prob- 

 ably be typical of an average market 

 was selected for the study. Early on the 

 morning of the 24th the county agents, 

 members of the State extension service, 

 and two reiiicscntatives of the Federal 

 Department of Agriculture met at the 

 Stockyards and remained untll the mar- 

 ket do.sed at 1 o'cloek. 



Considerable time was spent in watch- 

 Ing buyers make their selectlon. The 

 poInts coDSidered In sorting were eX- 



plalned to the agents by commiasloD men. 

 Age, weight, and flnish of animals were 

 primary factors wbich determined the 

 readine.ss with whlch the stock sold and 

 the priee received in relatlon to the gen- 

 eral market price. 



The conditlon in whlch stock reaches 

 the yards was another Important matter 

 studied. Feeding and watering practlces 

 prior to shipping, and the care used in 

 loading and bedding animals in tbe car, 

 were discussed witli slilpiiers and com- 

 mission men on the market. 



A Visit to a local packing house to 

 study the cuts of meat obtained froni 

 different types of animals was also in- 

 cluded in the schedule. 



In the aftemoon a Conference of 

 county agents, extension specialists. and 

 reprcsentatives of the commission men 

 was held to diseuss livestock marketing 

 methods. The application of Information 

 obtained in the day's study to local Prob- 

 lems in the eonnties was also coiisidered. 



COLORADO DEVELOPS PROGRAM 



During the week of July 1.'') tlie State 

 Agricultural College of Colorado cimi- 

 pleted its Organization of facts upon 

 which to base an extension prograin for 

 agriculture and horae econoiiiics for that 

 State. Under the leader.ship of Director 

 Roud McCann, T. H. Summers, farm 

 nianagement specialist, and Maude K. 

 Sheridan, State club and home demon- 

 stration leader, information had been 

 previously assembled showing the farm 

 and home conditions in the different 

 areas of the State. These facts were 

 theii submltted to the faculty of the agri- 

 cultural College aud county extension 

 workers for revisiou and tbe drawing up 

 of recoraniendations for the development 

 of Colorado agriculture during the uext 

 five or teil years. This Step was com- 

 pleted and the report submitted to the 

 Farmers' Congress which met during the 

 week of July 15. Eugene Merritt, of the 

 Office of Cooperative Extension Work, 

 cooperated with the leaders and was a 

 Speaker at the Farmers' Congress. The 

 report was adopted and will be made the 

 subject of further study by the Advisory 

 Couimittee of the Farmers" Congress dur- 

 ing the present year. 



This report is unique In that, appar- 

 ently for the first time, facts have been 

 assembled upon which to bulld a State- 

 wide home program and in that the re- 

 port doos not Cover the whole (leid of 

 agricultural practices but simply the 

 adapting of Colorado production to con- 

 sumption demands. The facts and rec- 

 omniendations will soon be in permanent 

 form as an extension bulletin. 



Tlie State extension service is now 

 planning the next step In bringing these 

 facts to groups of f armers In the coun- 

 tles in Order to revise and bulld up the 

 local extension programs. 



