178 The Commercial Apple Industry 



able fruit-growing impossible. Frosts seem to be very 

 local in tbese irrigated regions, that is, certain mesas or 

 limited areas are much more liable to damage than others. 

 The most notable example of how important it is to note 

 the liability to frost in these irrigated districts occurs in 

 the Grand Valley. A few miles above the town of Grand 

 Junction is located the town of Palisades, about which is 

 grouped a very intensive and highly specialized peach in- 

 dustry. Palisades lies in a very narrow part of the Grand 

 Valley on either side of which are large cliffs known as 

 the Book Cliffs. These radiate heat during the night which 

 together with better air drainage combine so that frosts 

 in the blooming season are rare. A few miles down the 

 valley and about Grand Junction itself, frosts are so com- 

 mon that fruit-growers have become somewhat discouraged. 

 Peach-growing on this account has been entirely elim- 

 inated. Destructive frosts seldom occur in the Wenatchee 

 Valley of Washington and rarely in the Hood Eiver Valley 

 of Oregon. They occur very frequently in most of the 

 irrigated districts of Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Utah 

 and Montana and in some of the irrigated sections of 

 Oregon and Washington. 



2. Land not liable to seepage should be chosen. In some 

 districts alkali has appeared on the surface of the soil and 

 the trees have lost their vigor and died. Thousands of 

 acres of land have been lost in the Grand Valley of Colo- 

 rado through this cause alone and many have become bank- 

 rupt who started out with the rosiest prospect. Land in 

 trees which has gone to seep is hardly worth trying to re- 

 claim as far as saving the orchard is concerned. 



It is extremely important that irrigated lands be well 

 drained so that water cannot stand on them for indefinite 



