1912. 
FIGHTING FROST IN ORCHARDS. 
Experience at Oregon Station. 
Orchard heating to prevent loss of the crop from 
late Spring frosts has become a matter of great im¬ 
portance in commercial fruit growing, particularly in 
the West. Among the early types of frost protection 
were smudges and bonfires. The bonfire is a wasteful 
method and rather ineffective, as strong air currents 
are caused, and the heat is rapidly dissipated in the 
upper air. The principle of the smudge is to make a 
dense smoke which will hang low over the orchard 
and prevent radiation of heat in the same way as a 
heavy blanket of cloud. In some cases a fire is built 
in a metal vessel set on wheels, the fire being covered 
with wet horse manure, making a great smoke. This 
wagon is kept going about the orchard and the smoke 
is thus spread where it will do most good. But the 
most successful form of heating is with the oil po\ 
types of which are shown in Figs. 34 and 36, re-' 
produced from Bulletin 110, of the Oregon Experi¬ 
ment Station. These pots hold about five quarts, and 
OIL POTS FOR ORCHARD. Fig. 34. 
burn from five to eight hours, depending on weather 
conditions and quality of oil. Oil with a paraffin base, 
testing 28 to 30 degrees Baume, is considered the best 
fuel for orchard heating, but in sections where this 
cannot be had at a reasonable price, almost any avail¬ 
able mineral oil or slop distillate is used. Fig. 35 
shows an orchard with these oil pots in operation. 
The number used varies with the evident needs, from 
20 to 100 per acre, and the average increase in tem¬ 
perature runs from two to 4J4 degrees. 
Various methods of filling and distributing the pots 
are used. Some orchards have galvanized tanks hold¬ 
ing 400 gallons of oil, the oil being drawn direct into 
the pots, which are afterward distributed, or put into 
buckets, from which the pots are filled. Another 
method is to haul the oil about the orchard in barrels 
on stone boats or sleds, two men filling four rows of 
heaters. Where 50 or 75 heaters per acre are used, 
two men and team can fill about 1,500 heaters in a da}'. 
Several patented lighting devices are to be had, but 
many use a homemade affair, consisting of a kerosene 
torch made of gaspipe and candle-wick and a spouted 
can of gasoline. A little gasoline is poured on the pot 
of oil and the torch applied. With heaters 20 to 25 
feet apart an experienced hand will light 
about 15 per minute. 
Following are the details of an experi¬ 
ment in which careful temperature rec¬ 
ords were made. The work was in a block 
of trees 294 feet each way, 100 heaters 
to the acre being used. The heaters 
were lighted at 4 A. M. when the mer¬ 
cury stood at 29. Readings every 15 
minutes were taken until 6 A. M. Dur¬ 
ing this period the temperature 200 feet 
from the trees ranged from 28.2 to 29.3, 
while inside it was 32.2 to 33.7, the aver¬ 
age increase being 4.1 degrees. 
RENTING ORCHARDS. 
As to renting orchards for cash or on 
shares, it depends on the orchard, the land, the varie¬ 
ties, the markets, the men in the case, etc. Some or¬ 
chards are not worth $10 per acre per year, and some 
may be worth $500 occasionally. The renter should 
have three or five years to guard against losses by 
freezing, frosts, rains in blooming time causing lack 
of pollination, hail, wind, droughts, etc., which may 
occur any year some place. Old orchards may be 
nearly dead, trees starving to death, and be so far 
gone that one may not get much from many of the 
trees and others may die before they can be restored. 
Other orchards may be in their prime except the trees 
are starving, others may be all right except they need 
spraying, others may have scale, others may be lo¬ 
cated in a valley where frosts may get the fruit nearly 
every Spring, others may be worthless varieties, or too 
far from market, or located where there is no water 
to spray, etc. The renter can take the advantages and 
weigh them against the disadvantages, find the age 
and condition of the orchard, about how many apples 
per tree may be expected, and what they are usually 
worth delivered to market, deducting the cost of grow¬ 
ing, including the work getting the orchard in condi¬ 
tion to be cared for properly, picking, packing, pack¬ 
ages and delivering, and by dividing that by two he 
should have what will put him on the safe side in 
THE RURAfo NEW-YORKER 
the deal. For example, if there are 30 trees per acre 
that should fruit and one can expect five barrels each 
when they fruit, it seems reasonable that they should 
average 75 barrels per year when they are in proper 
condition and given the right care. 
Most of the farm orchards, though, are impover¬ 
ished ; trees have died out, and the stand may not be 
so good; the trees remaining may not yield that much, 
and many of them are low-grade varieties on the mar¬ 
kets, and one cannot sell them for as much as if they 
were the standard varieties. Sometimes we can get $3 
or even $4 per barrel for the best grade of the best 
varieties, and often only $2 to $3, and the lower 
grades from that down to no profit at all; then try 
not to grow the low grades. With crops of apples it 
costs from 75 cents to nearly $1 per barrel to get the 
fruit from the trees to market, including the barrels, 
but not the freight charges. With small crops it costs 
more. It costs just as much to spray an orchard when 
it has a small crop as when it has a large one, or 
should, but many growers get stingy with the material 
and labor when it looks as though the crop is short. 
Fnless the orchard is a good one in all particulars it 
will not pay the renter to give half the crop, and if 
it is a poor one one-fourth may be about the share 
for the owner. As to cash, it is too much like “buying 
a pig in a poke.” It may pay the owner to take only 
a few dollars, for he may not get anything out of it if 
he keeps it and neglects it. If commercial fertilizers 
or manure are used on it the owner should pay fo r 
part of it, as the good results will last for years. 
Ohio. u. t. cox. 
FARM RENTING; RAILROAD FIRES. 
This part of the State for miles around here is al¬ 
most exclusively settled by Germans or their descend- 
ents. There is very little land rented here; the owners 
or their children do the farming. On land that is 
rented the rent has increased in the last few years be¬ 
cause land has increased in value. Land is now sell¬ 
ing from $125 to $185 an acre, in relation to the build¬ 
ings and improvements. Land is assessed for taxation 
in Adams Township, Defiance Co., O., the place where 
I live, on the average of over $110 an acre; the valua¬ 
tion has increased from four fold to six fold. Some 
farmers, having a large farm, rent some fields to their 
neighbors on the share plan, the landowner receiving 
two-fifths and paying the tax, the renter getting three- 
fifths and doing all the work, including delivering the 
landowner’s share to his granary. Some farms are 
rented for half of the crop; in this case the tenant has 
the use of the buildings on the place. In some cases 
the landlord pays one-half of the thrashing bill and 
furnishes one-half of the seed. Some farms are rented 
for cash, ranging from $5 to $10 per acre, according 
to the value of the land and the crop to be grown. I 
rented about 37 acres to a sugar beet company to grow 
sugar beets on last year, for $10 an acre. In this part 
of the country there are not enough farms, so that 
everyone could not rent one for love or money, so a 
good part of the tenants seek employment in the cities 
and towns. The average size of the farms around here 
is 80 acres. Taxes have hardly increased since the re¬ 
cent revaluation of property, because the revalua¬ 
tion was State-wide. 
I read some articles in The R. N.-Y. about the rail¬ 
roads’ liability as to firing adjacent property, so give 
you a copy of House Bill No. 31, passed by the Flouse 
of Representatives on May 5, 1911: 
Soc. 8970. Every company, or receiver of such company, 
operating a railroad or a part of one, shall be liable for 
all loss or damage by fires originating upon the land be¬ 
longing to it caused by operating such road; such com¬ 
pany or receiver of such company further shall be liable 
for all loss or damage by fires originating on lands ad¬ 
jacent to its land, caused in whole or part by sparks from 
an engine passing over such railroad, and the exercise by 
such company, or receiver of such company, of due care in 
equipping and operating such engine shall not exempt such 
company, or receiver of such company, from such liability, 
which may be recovered before any court of competent 
jurisdiction within the county in which the lands on which 
116 
such loss or damage occurs are situated. The existence of 
fires upon the railroad company’s lands is prima facie 
evidence that they are caused by operating such railroad. 
Provided that nothing herein shall invalidate or prohibit 
contracts of such company or receiver now existing or 
hereafter made, by which such company or receiver is 
indemnified against such loss or damage by fire or liability 
therefore released. 
Ohio. _ H. G. P. 
GET GOING FOR PARCELS POST. 
B. E. Evans, in his recent article on parcels post, 
is quite right in saying that this is no time to discuss 
methods. In my recent article I incidentally sug¬ 
gested the zone system only in order to anticipate 
the criticism, sure to be made, that it would be im¬ 
possible to establish distance rates from every post 
office to every other post office. As I see it, there 
are two things most urgent to be pressed at the pres¬ 
ent time, first, persistently to oppose a nation-wide 
single rate, and second, to insist that we be not put 
off with the absurd rural delivery parcels post. Par- 
ANOTHER TYPE OF HEATER. Fig. 30. 
cels post confined to rural delivery routes would no 
doubt be very convenient to the Post Office Depart¬ 
ment in getting the system started, for there would 
certainly be a very limited business, but a nation that 
can do what America does can surely put in opera¬ 
tion a genuine parcels post, though limited in scope 
at the outset —genuine so far as it goes. In this re¬ 
spect Mr. Evans has hit upon a happy expression that 
will serve well as a battle cry for us. Slightly con¬ 
densed, it is this: “Parcels post, county zones anti 
nothing less.” Let us all take it up, write our Con¬ 
gressmen, get it in the county newspapers throughout 
the country in letters written by farmers, and get it 
discussed in the Granges with resolutions passed by 
the Granges. If there is anything that will make the 
average Congressman sit up it is resolutions passed by 
the Granges of his district. There is one thing that an 
advocacy of the country zones will do, it will stop the 
clatter about the farmers only wanting busi¬ 
ness with the catalogue houses in distant cities. The 
President with the best intentions has endorsed the 
“rural delivery” scheme for parcels post, and we must 
let it he known that that will not do. Our real needs 
arc often overlooked or misunderstood. 
R. N.-Y.—We hardly agree with Mr. 
Smith about this influence of “resolu¬ 
tions” upon Congressmen. Strong, indi¬ 
vidual letters are stronger and more ef¬ 
fective. DATUS C. SMITH. 
KILLING WITCH GRASS. 
On page 1209, December 23 issue, Mr. 
Guptill gives his method of killing witch 
or quack grass. Whatever the method 
followed, results depend upon thorough¬ 
ness. In my own little work I have had 
best results by double plowing. I broke 
\ l / 2 acres of old neglected field August, 
1909, and between that time and Novem¬ 
ber first harrowed it four different 
periods, being governed by the glint of 
green showing the coming of this grass. Lapping the 
disk harrow one-half and going lengthwise and cross¬ 
wise the field was harrowed 16«times. The following 
May, as early as possible, I cross-plowed and then 
worked the land thoroughly before planting corn. In 
cross-plowing I added about six feet on one side, and 
on this strip got some witch grass, but none at all 
where the land was plowed twice. Experience is con¬ 
vincing me that increased preparation will enable one 
to make a substantial reduction in amount of fertilizer 
used, that cultivation is fertilization. I planted one 
acre of corn May 25, using no barn manure, but in¬ 
stead 800 pounds of 3-8-7 corn fertilizer broadcast at 
the last harrowing, 200 pounds in the planter and later 
300 broadcast between the rows at the last cultivation 
about July 28. The corn was planted in rows three 
feet apart, four kernels every 36 inches, hoed once, cul¬ 
tivated five times, the suckers broken out early in July, 
and the yield when harvested 119 1-10 bushels shelled 
corn. The double plowing and preparation of the land, 
breaking out of the suckers and application of this, 
fertilizer so late in the season explains the very 
liberal crop. It will be seen by the story that no 
excessive work was done at any period after planting, 
yet the field was entirely free from weeds, except 
the narrow strip on one side broken in the Spring. 
Maine. g. w. twitchell. 
OIL HEATERS BURNING IN ORCHARD. Fig. 35. 
