A Fruit Survey oe Mesa County 
i9 
farmers have tried the growing of special crops such as cante- 
loupes and small fruits, and some of them have been very success¬ 
ful in this venture. 
Regarding the Valley as a whole, there are too many men in 
the orchard business who are not fruit growers, and too many 
tracts of fruit trees which are not orchards in a real sense, for the 
business to thrive except under extraordinary conditions. 
More land devoted to alfalfa, sugar beets, grain, and stock and 
less to fruit growing, would undoubtedly mean better success for 
most of the Grand Valley farmers. 
SMUDGING 
(Orchard Heating) 
The concensus of opinion among orchardists in Mesa County 
is that the attempt to ward off frosts by smudging (building fires 
in the orchard to raise the temperature) is not a paying proposi¬ 
tion. Practically all systems of smudging have been tried with 
varied results, but the practice has been abandoned by most of 
the growers. 
The trouble is that the conditions must be very favorable for 
effective smudging. At best, the temperature can be raised only a 
few degrees and when the frost is accompanied by a wind, it is 
almost impossible to do any good. As a safeguard, many nights 
of wearisome toil are often spent in smudging, only to find that 
the frost was not hard enough to do any appreciable damage. Un¬ 
der any conditions, smudging is a very disagreeable, man-killing 
task, as well as being expensive. When one spends several nights 
in smudging only to be caught by a late frost, or to find that his 
neighbors who did not smudge have as much fruit as he, he very 
seriously questions the utility of the practice. 
Disregarding all worry and hard work, it is doubtful whether 
orchard heating is profitable. If one is not situated where fruit 
growing is fairly safe without smudging, the advisability of the 
business is exceedingly questionable. One had better either raise 
other crops, or move to a safe fruit-growing country. There are too 
many precautions that must be taken to successfully grow fruit in 
any district without adding that of constant danger from frost. 
The continuance of smudging in commercial fruit growing will 
very likely be limited to vicinities where there are infrequent kill¬ 
ing frosts and to the larger orchards. As a general practice, it ap¬ 
pears to be a thing of the past. 
TREE GROWTH IN THE GRAND VALLEY 
The vigorous growth of fruit trees in the Valley indicates that 
the climatic and soil conditions are favorable for the development 
