Updated:
October 8, 2006
he
introduction of the Washington
Navel to Riverside and eventually,
to most of Southern California
resulted in many inventions. The
inventions included machines
used in packinghouses to sort
oranges. Other machines made
the wooden shipping crates.
Refrigerated
railroad boxcars kept the
fruit
cold when being shipped across
the country. Orchard
heaters protected the groves
on very cold nights.
Despite
the region’s mild climate,
the temperatures in some areas
could get below freezing in
the winter. The
cold was important. The lower
temperatures made the oranges
sweeter. If
the temperatures got too cold
for an extended period of time,
the fruit would freeze. On many
nights the orange growers turned
on their radios to listen to
the Fruit Frost Warning reports. A
freeze in 1913 nearly ruined
the orange industry. Temperatures
dropped to 22 degrees destroying
the fruit and killing many of
the trees.
There
were several types of heaters. The
Riverside Sheet Metal Company
produced thousands. The
heaters burned oil or sometimes,
coal. When
the temperatures dropped to
about 28 the crews with torches
went from orange grove to orange
grove lighting the heaters. The
heaters or “smudge pots” created
a thick, oily smoke. The warm
smoke protected the fruit. A
black fog blanketed the valleys.
It would seep under windows,
cling to curtains and other
fabrics and get in your nostrils. Many
of those on the crews were high
school students (mostly young
men). After
a night of working in the groves
they often came to school with
their faces and hands blackened
by the smoke. The
smoke was a badge of honor. These
young men braved the cold nights
protecting the golden fruit.
Another
way to heat the groves was
burning
old tires. Environmental
laws, the high cost of the oil
and the removal of the orange
groves resulted in the abandonment
of the smudge pots. In
the meantime, large fans or wind
machines circulated the air. They
continue to use the machines even
though the heaters are no longer
in use. Another
way to raise the temperature in
the groves is to turn on the sprinklers. The
water coming out of the sprinklers
is warmer than the air around
the trees. The water raises
the
temperature of the air and
will
prevent the oranges from freezing.
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