JANUARS, 1911. MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 29
The discovery of these importantm facts in the life his-
tory of tlie cattle tick is the result of the studies of Mr. E. C!. Cotton, assistant rntoiiiologist of the Tennessee
Experiment Station, and Mr. J. F. Voorhees, local fore-
caster in charge of the local office of tlie Weather Bureau
at Knoxville, Tenn.
ORCHARD HEATING IN INDIANA.
By WILLIAM Id WALTON, Jr , Cooperative Observer.
NOTE -The results reported by M r Wialt~~n are interrstint. in show-
ing what may be accomplished under u r d i n q a enthei cvnclitiuns in
Indiana The mean temperature for Rlarrh, 1910, IT:W the h~ghest on record in the State, ttliich caused trees and vegetation to be full)
two weeks in advance of the development in oldindry Redsons, un
April 1 The reverse condition obtained during the latter half I J ~
April. ahen the lowest recorded temperatures broke all prec ioiw
records for that time of the !ear, nncl were the temperaturea that Rlr
Walton attemptecl to combat in his orchard. His partial succr\q
demonstrates the practicability of orchnrd heating in the North ('entral States as a protective measure against frnsts and freezing tem-
peratures -V. H. C.
Heaters holding 5 quarts of oil were placed in the orchard on March 31, 21 feet apart each way, with a
sniall amount of straw on top to furnish sufficient heat
to enerate the gas. Our first frost occurred on L4pril 6,
about 30 minutes to light the 500 fires, and inside nf
mother lialf hour the temperature n7as 40" or above,
which permitted the checking of alternate heaters. We began refilling the heaters after a couple of hours in order
to prevent any possibility of the fires going out. The temperature went down to 27" in the uiilieated section of
the orchard, but at no place in the heated area did it get below 32". We let tlie heaters go out a t 6 a. in., nncl as
a result a little frost formed in low places before tlie siin
was high enough to roduce any warming effect.
7 11. in.. the work of the previous night was repeated, and
the heaters kept going until 6.30 a. ni. As the sun came
u p eveiything outside the heated area wils white with frost, and ice one-fourth inch in thickness had formed, while no frost whatever could be found in tlie orchard.
On April 13 a heavy frost began to :ippenr n t 11 1. ni.
In this case it was necessary to burn only alternate I ieat-
em, which were Ire t going until 6::M a. 111.
temperature did not fall below freezing, the fires were quenched a short time after t1ic.y werc +tartd.
Not a single blossom had been injured within the heated
area previous to the 22d. Currants hung in full clusters
m c f wab iioticeable by 6.30 p. in. It took three persons
Heaters were ref2 P ed on the 7th. ant1 as frost settled at
Snow fell throug ?l out the night of April 17, but as the
with 10 or 11 on each stem. I n the sections where heat had not been used blossoms were damaged to s consider-
able extent, the effect being most noticectble on currants where it was impossible to find more than 5 or 6 on a
stem.
On April 23 a hi& northwest wind was blowing, with
temperature a t 3 2 8 It mas iin ossible to et the heat up
we held our own quite well until nearly daylight, when
the teinperatm-e started clownwnrd. By 10 o'clock the thermometer read 25", and the wind WRS still blowing
hard. We kept tlie heaters going but the blossoms soon
became like w m . We mnintainerl the figlit until the arrivnl of the weather forecast, which was for continued
high winds arid freezing temperature. At 11 a. m.
nearly everything within tlie heated area as well as with-
out was frozen, and caused lis to forego our efforts, after
he\-ing burned3,300 g::llons of oil. The freezing weitther continued throughout the day and night of the 23d, 24th,
m c l 3.5th, itiid wtis followed by- 1ieav-y snow on the 26th.
As ti result we picked no gooseberries or currmts from
the 1s itcres which were 111 betiring, nor any cherries, plums. or peaclies, and but a few apples from the remainder of the orchrtrd.
Having lost all tree and I)usli fruits we turned our
:Ittention to 1 acres of struwberries that were not in blossoni during the period of severe wea ther just, described. We placed IS0 heaters in this plat and went through
three nights of frost with temperature down to 25" and
lower. On the night of May 1 3 we started the fires a t
S.30 p. m. and kept them going until T a . in. It was tlifficult to prevent the froqt from settling on the vines, as
there w a s no foliage above to assist in retaining the heat,
:is in tlie orcliard. However, we went through the straw-
berry season witliout rciiu, and yet liarvestecl a larger crop of berriw than we (lid the previous yeiir from a larger
tract under more fitvorrtble moisture conditions. This
goes to show that the heaters should at least share in the
credit for the good results obtained. \Ire 1)urned during the sea\on about 4.()00 gallonh of
fuel oil, which monltl have Ijeen .;akiicitwt in any ordinary
p a r , or :kt least \~ould have mvtd the crop h:td it heen used during the bpringh of ~H o S R I H ~ 1909 inqtead of 1>)10.
\Ve went into tlir matter thi* ytw' to tight qji-ing frosts,
lmt when winter entered the fray we were compelled to
surrender. \Ve w e nut rlisc~ouraged hy the f:iilure, how-
e \ er. nnd expect t v try :tg:iin ill 1911. The experience gained is pai*ticuhrly valii:ilde, R U ~ give:. ti* iucressed
energy for farther esperinic~ut.
with proper eqiiipnieo t we can save our entire crop during seac;onh having ordinary weather conditions in spring.
into the trees with the wind b H owing a ga 3 e. However,
I t also conrin