On Niffht-Frnnfs. m 



of work connected A\itli farming, tliat it is mth reluctance, if not vdtii dislike, 

 lie undeitakes another task, wliich will entail for liini the extra discomfort of 

 night watcliing. 



This is not to Ije wondered at, for wlien the agi'icnlturist returns home, 

 after a long and hard da}''« work, and it is tinie for rest, it reqnü'es a grcat 

 deal to persuade him to spend the night in watcliing, not even the threatening 

 famine can make him do it, he prefers leaving all to an uncertain hope that 

 there may he no damage done. 



Avoiding frost by means of carbonizing is not nnknown to onr pea- 

 santry, whetlier Swedes nor Finns, and I liave ofteii admired the détermi- 

 nation ^vith Avhicli the experienced peasant foretells a coming frost. So in 

 tliis respect, there is no gi-eat difticnlty to be overcome, only the old and well- 

 known one: we can't make np our ininds to it. 



All tliese reasons make it highly désirable that an insurance against frost 

 miglit be instituted. Even if the countryinan dislikes all icady money expen- 

 ses, he fears the frost still more and he has already learned, through Fire 

 Insurance, the comfort of feeling secure against accidentai but ruinius circum- 

 stances. 



Naturally all small lields could not be insured, but the force of example, 

 given by the successful protection of larger fields, would be great, and even 

 the small proprietors themselves would learn to protect their crops, if tliey 

 were supplied witli torches. 



The cliief tliing now is to collect facts about the methods, especiall)^ about 

 the second, and their infallibility must be settled. It seems to us that this 

 diity must be considered to lie in the hands of the State. As the damage 

 caused by frost, bringing with it famine to thousands of our countrymen, 

 witli its subséquent misfortunes, of which death is by no means the great- 

 est, can be prevented, it seems as if every possible préventive ought to be 

 undertaken. 



The average loss by frost which Finland yearly expériences must be esti- 

 mated at several millions. These millions simply disappear, and to us it seems 

 a very easy way of subsistence to rescue these millions! How many would 

 not thus earn an ample living! And when this could be caused by the avert- 

 ing of devastating calamities, so great that they are bringing the country to 

 the verge of ruin. the benefit attending such work would be manifest. 



Much dépends now upon the work being undertaken in such a way that 

 it gains the object in view at the least possible expense. 



