AFTER CARE — FERTILIZERS 57 



distributed in a manner which insures abso- 

 lute uniformity, which covers every square 

 inch of the soil, and is under control of 

 the operator. A turning device enables the 

 operator, by one movement, and without 

 leaving the power house, to control the dis- 

 tribution of the water on a large acreage. 



Besides giving water for the growing crop 

 it also affords protection against frost. It 

 should be noted, however, that it is practi- 

 cally useless to apply the water after the plant 

 has been frozen or touched with frost. The 

 pipes must be kept moving so that the water 

 is applied on a given place at intervals of 

 not to exceed two minutes' duration. The 

 sprinkling should be begun previous to the 

 frost and continued throughout the night 

 until the temperature rises above the danger 

 point. 



It may seem incongruous that a plant can 

 be protected from the frost and at the same 

 time be covered with ice, but this is neverthe- 

 less true. Water in freezing parts with as 

 much heat as in dropping from 112 to 32 

 degrees. With the Skinner system, in seven 

 hours and with a pressure of thirty pounds, 

 there can be applied on a ten-acre plot one 



