FROST—FRUIT GARDEN 1028 
Temp. 
during 
point night 
Dew- 
Year Date Time degrees degrees 
1909 April 19 6 :45 p.m 29 29 
1910 April 38 6:30 p.m 27 27 
1910 April 9 6 :30 p. m 44 44 
1910 April 11 6 :30 p. m 41 40 
1910 April 138 6:30 p.m 29 26 
1910 April 25 6:30 p.m 42 44 
1910 May 2 6 :30 p.m 40 42 
1911 April 14 6:30p m 23 22 
1911 April 25 6.30 p.m 41 43% 
1911 April 28 6:30 p.m 31 274 
These figures are taken at random 
from the records and represent pretty 
fairly all the data which have been re- 
corded during the above years through- 
out the frost season. The minimum tem- 
peratures are for such nights as re- 
mained clear and with very slight air 
movement, which was from the south. 
An aneroid barometer is also a valuable 
instrument. By carefully noting the 
movement of this instrument one may 
readily learn to predict with more or 
less certainty the kind of weather to be 
expected. With the pressure high the 
chances are that frost may be expected 
and the reverse when the pressure is 
low. In making readings with all me- 
teorological instruments there should be 
a set time for observations. Random 
readings, taken at odd times; are of very 
little value. A careful record will surely 
repay the observer many times for his 
trouble. It would be a very fine practice 
for each grower to be able to tell what 
were his maximum and minimum tem- 
peratures, barometer, wind direction and 
estimate of velocity, dew-point tempera- 
tures and rainfall for each day in the 
year. This data would not only be valu- 
able to himself, but to the district as a 
whole. Lastly, whenever it is possible 
get the weather from the nearest United 
States Weather Bureau station. The lo- 
cal observer is usually better equipped 
to tell what weather conditions are likely 
to be expected and what emergencies are 
to be provided for than anyone else. He 
is also able to tell what temperatures are 
injurious to the several kinds of fruits 
through the season. Injurious tempera- 
tures are not the same for all varieties, 
nor are they the same for any one vari- 
ety during different stages of its growth. 
Fruit Garden 
In all undertakings of this sort it is 
very important to have a clear and intel- 
ligent idea of what is to be done. There 
are so many matters which have to be 
adjusted to one another that the essen- 
tial items are sure to be overlooked, 
unless the project is systematically de- 
veloped. The garden-plan should be 
made as carefully as the plan for a house 
and with as much attention to detail as 
the architect gives in his finished draw- 
ings. Every tree and bush should be lo- 
cated and its species and variety desig- 
nated. After this much has been done, 
it will be easier to decide on drainage, 
cultivation and management. Unless 
these things are done, all other questions 
are settled by guesswork. 
There is no end of entertainment for 
winter evenings in this matter of making 
a design. Many families spend years of 
pleasant recreation in planning houses 
which they never build, but gardeners’ 
plans are cheaper and just as interest- 
ing. 
We all know that the common city lot, 
or suburban garden, is not an ideal place 
for fruit growing, agriculturally and 
geologically speaking. The soil is apt to 
be made up of ashes and the drainage 
secured by a varying admixture of tin 
cans and discarded umbrellas. While 
such soils do not appear under terms of 
high praise in the agricultural survey, 
they are not altogether impossible to the 
determined city gardener; and the first 
term in their utilization is that of drain- 
age. 
