Smudge pots are devices that used to be used in orchards to protect the trees when the temperature dropped to freezing. The smudge pot burned crude oil and generated smoky clouds (the “smudge”) but, more importantly, heat that kept the fruit from freezing. Brack used to see smudge pots in the orange groves that were common in Southern California when he was growing up. Smudge pots stopped being used when oil prices and environmental concerns rose! But read about other, quite surprising, uses of smudge pots on Wikipedia.
