Temperatures had been low for a fortnight in Southern California when one afternoon last week the Federal Fruit Frost Service sent out a warning that during the night the mercury would dive farther below freezing than it had for 24 years. Frantic men with torches went rushing through the citrus groves lighting great smudge pots, from which billowed smoke to protect the trees from frost. Before morning, temperatures in many places had fallen through the 18° mark set by the 1922 freeze which ruined half the citrus crop. A temperature of 16° was...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
