THE Three Ice-men anticipated the first of their saint-days by
three days, and this may be called punctuality in the list of standard prognostics about the weather. They did a good deal of harm, not least in the Worcestershire valleys. On the hills only the strawberries suffered, so far as my experience went, and only a small proportion of the blossoms
showed a black centre. Defences against such frost have increased, though years ago I knew one fruit-grower who had an alarum by his bedside which rang as soon as an attached thermometer fell to freezing point. He had a large number of " smudges " ready for lighting. The trouble with such devices for blanketing trees in smoke or warm air is that they do not work well on slopes ; and southern slopes are a favourite site. Amateur users of the cloche found that it was necessary to leave a slight gap between the blossoms and the glass. For myself I had strawberries, in full blossom, alongside young potatoes, which were untouched, though the strawberries suffered in some measure. The question is hotly disputed whether watering potato tops before the sun scatters the frost is a good defence. I can only say that I have seen what seemed to me a sovran proof of the efficiency of the method. The experiment was carried out by a gardener of genius at Reading University.
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