30 BULLETIN NO. 161 



picking and packing is approximately $ .55 and the average 

 cost of picking and packing is $ .20. The value of each bushel 

 of peaches saved would then be $ .35 and the value of the 80 

 bushels saved on each acre would be $28. But let us see what 

 it would cost to save this. Figuring oil at $ .09 a gallon, al- 

 lowing 100 gallons per acre, figuring that one man can tend ten 

 acres, and that the heating is done only on nights when it is 

 absolutely necessary and not to ward off light frosts that only 

 thin the buds, and figuring the overhead expense each year the 

 same as we have on page 18, it would cost $50.50 or more to 

 save the crop. In other words it costs $50 to save $28 worth of 

 fruit. 



Taking the average normal yield of apples as 450 bushels and 

 the average price received for them as $ .75 a bushel after being 

 picked and packed or $ .55 on the trees, let us see if the farmers 

 can make money by heating when they lose twenty per cent of 

 their crop each year. They lose 90 bushels every year which 

 amounts to $49.50. From a study of tables again we judge that 

 apples would be heated on an average o>f at least two nights a 

 year, which would cost $50. 



Inasmuch as the heating may fail because of accidents such 

 as an inaccurate forecast, or the temperature might be so very 

 low or wind so high that the heating was insufficient to warm 

 the buds above the danger temperature, or the extra help might 

 fail and both the crop and the oil be lost in addition to the extra 

 worry of handling the heating business undertaken that it is 

 very doubtful whether heating should be resorted to in Utah at 

 all. At best and with the least number of times of heating that 

 are necessary, the crop is only worth approximately the cost of 

 heating. In Utah it would be very difficult to heat because the 

 orchards are so scattered. 



If the locality is such that heating is justifiable, then it is 

 very certain that if it is resorted to it must be done with care 

 and precision according to the most approved methods with 

 plenty of heaters and plenty of help, taking care that no fuel is 

 wasted. 



Weather bureau forecasts are usually very conservative, i, e., 

 they will not miss reporting 1 a severe frost but they sometimes 

 report a light frost that turns out to be harmless and the hired 

 men that have been summoned to help with the firing have to be 

 paid even tho it was not cold enough to justify lighting up. The 

 more frequent the occurrence of frost, the greater is the loss of 



