THE SECRETAKY'S PORTFOLIO. 393 



DOES PROTECTION PROTECT? 



All iny gardening life hiive I been ;i skeptic on the bud cii'ects of a low tem- 

 perature wlien unaccompanied with wind. My diary never notes the one without 

 the other. Several years since, when the mercury fell to 14° below zero, and 

 the air was perfectly still, the peach buds were apparently uninjured ; but 

 another season not nearly so cold, yet exceedingly windy, the buds were unmis- 

 takably killed. This theory has been fully demonstrated the past spring in 

 many instances, but in one particular case was it very convincing. A long bed 

 was devoted to strawberries, and this was skirted in the back by a fine hemlock 

 Ivcdge. At one end of each is a building, so situated that the high northwest 

 winds during winter were prevented from striking either for two-tiiirds their 

 length, but the main portion l)oing fully exposed, indicated, when spring 

 opened, the exact line of the division between the jirotected and unprotected 

 sections of both bed and hedge. In the first of these the strawberry plants 

 were so badly injured as to produce little or no fruit, and the hedge was so 

 badly cut up as to need replacing. In the protected portion my strawberries 

 were as line as any I have ever grown, and the hedge is a model of beauty. 



Along the north side of my dwelling I have a bed of rhododendrons; at the 

 western end where the wind sweeps around the corner, the plants were all more 

 or less damaged, but at the other end of the bed they were uninjured. These 

 high driving winds, causing excessive evaporation, injure the vitality of vege- 

 tation during the season of partial rest, for vegetation is never entirely dormant. 

 Strong cold winds during a drouth in winter are invariably destructive to all 

 manner of plants not iron-clad, and moisture will go far toward remedying the 

 evil. "With all our boasted knowledge about plant-life and the influence exerted 

 upon it by the weather, we are frequently puzzled to ascertain tlie cause of 

 many a mishap to our choice trees and plants. Acclimation is a delusion and 

 a snare, as many of our cultivators have no doubt learned to their sorrow, time 

 and time again. As a partial remedy I want to impress upon the minds of my 

 countrymen that protection by means of screens and groups of evergreen trees 

 is the best investment made by any one living in the country ; at least such has 

 been my experience and observation. Josiah Hoopes. 



TRANSPLANTING. 



PLANTING YOUNG TREES. 



Planting trees of an early age is productive of early and prolonged fruitful- 

 ness. We often see fine specimens of fruit growing on trees yet in the nursery 

 row. Peach trees older than one year are Avorthless. Young trees in the hands 

 of a skillful grower can be made to assume almost any shape, which cannot be 

 said of tliose of an advanced age. Young trees can be made to branch so low 

 that neither grass nor weeds will grow under them on account of the shade, 

 and I am not sure but this would be a good method with some species. The 

 prolific peach trees in Daniel E. Rogers' orchards rest their branches on the 

 ground when loaded witli fruit, yet his might have been trained much lower. 

 However, for general culture a medium height is most desirable. — Rural Home. 



