262 



The Principles of Fruit-growing 



mortars each, and near each station was a cabin in which 

 powder was stored. A corps of volunteers consisting of 

 neighbors and owners of small vineyards was trained to 

 proceed to the stations and handle the mortars whenever 

 there was the slightest indication of a storm. Each mortar 



i i was loaded 



with about 43/ 

 ounces of pow- 

 der; the firing 

 was simulta- 

 neous and con- 

 tinuous until 

 the clouds were 

 either scattered 

 or blown away. 

 This also had a 

 tendency to 

 break up the 

 stratum of cold 

 air and prevent 



FIG. 94. Hail-gun, installed in a vineyard. The shed its Settling in 

 is only a storehouse. . i i i 



thelowgrounds. 



These experiments were practised for some time, and 

 are said to have been successful. (G. B. Brackett, Year- 

 book, U. S. Dept. Agric., 1909.) 



This principle of applying explosives in the upper air 

 has received considerable attention for the prevention of 

 hail from fruit-growers abroad and it has been introduced 

 in the United States, but meteorologists do not look on it 

 with favor or as being likely to produce the desired results. 

 Fig. 94 is an illustration of one of several hail-guns now 

 employed in New York. When hail is threatened in the 

 vineyard, these guns are fired repeatedly, heavy charges 



