FRENCH HOXEYSUCKLE. 



protection of plants from the weather, 

 or it may be placed on a bed of 

 fermenting manure, or other mate- 

 I'ials that generate heat, for bringing 

 forward seeds or tender plants. 

 Sometimes frames are placed against 

 steeply sloping surfaces, or against 

 walls ; in which cases the object is 

 to bring forward plants trained on the 

 wall or sloping surface. Frames are 

 of the greatest use in gardening; not 

 only for protecting plants that are not 

 quite so hardy as those usually 

 planted in the open air, especially in 

 the winter season (such as Alpines, 

 and seedlings of hardy plants which 

 are somewhat tender when young), 

 but for germinating seeds. Frames 

 on beds of dung are commonly called 

 hotbeds, and are pai'ticularly useful 

 for raising young plants from seeds, 

 striking cuttings, and, in culinary 

 gardening, for growing crops of such 

 plants as Cucumbers, Melons, &c. 

 As the air confined wdthin the frame 

 is apt to become suddenly heated by 

 bright sunshine, or by the fermenting 

 material when the open air is tem- 

 perate, care must be taken to prevent 

 the heat from being at any time 

 greater than the plants will bear ; 

 and this is effected by raising the 

 sashes, or lights, as they are techni- 

 cally called, by wooden wedges placed 

 between them and the frame, in the 

 hinder or higher part of the frame, 

 so as to admit of the escape of the 

 excessively heated air. Hence it is 

 desirable in all frames, where much 

 delicacy of temperature requires to be 

 attended to, to keep a thermometer 

 within them ; and in general, when 

 the temperature within rises to 60^, 

 to lift up the sash and to introduce the 

 wedge between it and the back of the 

 frame, so as to permit the heated air 

 to escape. Frames are sometimes 

 also set upon low brick walls, which 

 may either be raised above the soil, 

 if it should be naturally moist ; or 



sunk into it, if it should be naturally 

 dry. In such cases, instead of a box 

 of boards, the box may be said to be 

 formed of brick or stone, on the top 

 of which is placed a framing of wood 

 to receive the sashes. Such frames, 

 or cold-pits, as they are called, are 

 used to preserve half-hardy and 

 greenhouse plants during the winter. 

 All frames that are used in winter or 

 spring should be covered during the 

 night, especially when the weather is 

 cold, to retain the heat generated by 

 the sun, or the fermenting material, 

 during the day. This covering is 

 generally of bast-mats laid on the 

 glass sashes ; but it is rendered much 

 more effective when the mats are kept 

 an inch or two apart from the sashes, 

 so as to retain between them a stratum 

 of air, which, from its non-conducting 

 power, greatly lessens the escape of 

 heat through the mats. As mats 

 are apt to absorb the rain instead 

 of conducting it off, coverings of 

 thatch formed of regularly drawn 

 wheat-straw or reeds are considered 

 preferable ; though such roofings are 

 scarcely worth attending to in a small 

 garden, where there is perhaps only 

 one frame . The best covering of all 

 is composed of boarded shutters, 

 placed a few inches distant from the 

 frame, and this species of shelter is 

 at once neat and durable, and calcu- 

 lated to retain a stratum of air above 

 the glass, while it effectually throws 

 off the rain. 



Fraxci'scea. — Scrophuldrince. 

 — Ornamental stove shmbs, gene- 

 rally with large dark purple flowers. 



Fraxco^a. — Francoacecc or Ga- 

 lacinece. — Handsome plants, most of 

 which are nearly hard}", and may be 

 treated either as annuals or jieren- 

 nials, and may be always raised from 

 seed. 



Fraxine'lla. — See Dicta'mkus. 



French Honeysuckle. — See 

 Hedt'sarum. 



