HOW TO GROW AND MARKET FRUIT 



grow and bloom in the spring, and early to ripen wood and 

 fruit in the fall; plan or make use of windbreaks of other kinds 

 of trees, and use smoke and moisture for protection when 

 frost comes at critical times. 



The problem of location already is solved for the great 

 majority of growers and would-be growers. If you own a farm, 

 that is the place on which to grow your fruit. The fact that 

 you have it and know the soil gives you a greater advantage 

 than you can secure by changing, unless you now are in a poor 

 location for fruit, and can get a good price for your land. If 

 this is the case, move into a section that is known to be good 

 for fruit and as near the big markets as you can get. If you 

 cannot change, you can make yourself practically safe from 

 frost by wise planning and a little work. 



Water heats up and grows cold more slowly than earth. 

 When the sun beats down warmly during winter and early 

 spring days, water stays cold, while land gets warm. Later, 

 water gets warm too, but, unlike the land, it stays warm, and 

 does not cool off every frosty night. And air always is of about 

 the same temperature as the substance it rests on. 



Now, both freezing of blossoms and "sun scald" (which is 

 only freezing of sappy growth) would be unknown if there 

 were no higher temperature to start growth, followed by low 

 temperature that freezes it. To connect protection from frost 

 with bodies of water, therefore, we have only to remember 

 that warm air rises over cold air whenever it has a chance. 

 During warm days in winter and spring, cold air from over 

 water flows up into the vacant space left over land by warm 

 air rising. This prevents trees from starting growth as soon 

 as they would otherwise. 



Then later, when spring has come in earnest and the leaves 

 and blossoms are out, water and land both get warm in the 

 daytime but along comes a frost at night and cools off both 

 the land and its air. This cold air flows down to the water, to 

 take the place of the warmer air which rises from the water 

 and flows back over the land and over the tender blossoms. 



That, however, is not quite the whole science of water- 

 protection from frost. The worst frosts come when the air is 

 dry. If there is much fog, or vapor, or moisture, in the air, 

 freezing will be slight or entirely absent. An example of this 

 is seen in the fact that zero on the Atlantic coast, where the 

 atmosphere is moist, actually is felt more seems colder, and 

 is colder than twenty degrees below in Manitoba or Colorado, 

 where the air is much drier. 



Any water air will be damper than land air, so frost will not 

 freeze so hard nor so quickly near bodies of water as the same 

 degree of cold will freeze farther inland. If moisture is pres- 

 ent in the air, from a shower, from ponds, ditches, spraying, 

 or watering, it will act to prevent freezing. In irrigated sec- 

 tions, a large amount of protection from frost can be had by 

 turning on the water, and so filling the air with moisture. 

 Where there are only a few plants or trees, or a garden, a 

 thorough sprinkling or wetting is the best possible protection 



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