Lighting an orchard smudge pot   Save
Joe Munroe Archive
Description: A farmer lights a smudge pot to help combat frosts in his orchard, taken by Joe Munroe, 1962. A smudge pot burns oil and produces a black smoke that settles on the surrounding fruit, preventing frost from sticking and raising the air temperature by several degrees. This technique was popular until the mid-1960s when environmental concerns, rising oil prices, and the advent of wind power rendered the smudge pot obsolete. Joe Munroe's career began in 1939 at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He served in the Air Force during World War II and then joined Cincinnati-based Farm Quarterly magazine. Though raised in Detroit, agriculture became an important subject of Joe's photographs. He moved to California in 1955 and free-lanced, taking magazine assignments and selling his own work. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P400_B11_F03_JPG056
Subjects: Joe Munroe; Farming; Farm equipment;
Places: California