10 



THE AQUARIUM, OCTOBER. 1895. 



PAPER AS A PROTECTIVE FROM 

 FROST. 



The power of paper to protect plants 

 from frost has been tested in various 

 ways, but never more thoroughly than 

 by Mr. J. W. May— an English gentle- 

 man, who has given the result of his 

 experiments to The Country, a London 

 journal. 



Ordinary newspaper was first used, 

 and this answered very well, but having 

 obtained a lot of thick wrapping j>aper, 

 he substituted this and obtained a far 

 better result. The experiment was 

 carried out on frames which are banked 

 up with ashes, and these covered with a 

 sloping board to carry off water. A 

 thermometer was hung in each frame. 

 Four thicknesses of thick paper, seven 

 thicknesses of thick carpet paper, or 

 twelve sheets of newspaper excluded 

 frost when the thermometer stood at 

 16° in the shade ; but when it receded 

 to 14° one degree of frost was registered 

 in the frames. When, however, an 

 extra sheet of carpet paper Avas placed 

 over each frame, frost was quite ex- 

 cluded. For convenience the paper 

 was tacked together with hemp, and 

 each frame had a cover made just to 

 lap over the sides, but not to reach 

 either top or bottom by half an inch, 

 To keep all dry, sheets of brown carpet 

 paper, dressed with lampblack and 

 boiled oil, were laid over the other 

 covers, allowing these dressed covers to 

 overlap about an inch all round. This 

 throws off rain and moisture. One or 

 two dressings are required, according to 

 the state of the paper, and it should 

 always be rolled up, not folded, or the 

 dressing will crack. Thus the cover 

 will be waterproof. 



Out-door paper comes in very useful ; 

 a cone of thick paper, or a cone of 

 brown paper of three or four thick- 



nesses, water-proofed on the outside, 

 would protect the majority of semi- 

 hardy herbaceous or sub-herbaceous 

 plants ; while temporary covers of paper 

 alone, simply folded and pinned, would 

 protect bedding, plants, etc., from 

 spring frosts. A newspaper or a sheet 

 of brown paper laid over a seed bed, 

 one or two inches above the ground, 

 will protect tender seedings from both 

 frost and excessive sun heat, and is 

 worth knowing where such things are 

 raised. To be useful it must, however, 

 be borne in mind that the paper must 

 be dry, otherwise it is useless. The 

 advantages of paper protectors are effi- 

 ciency, cheapness, portability, and, 

 above all, its plentiful appearance in 

 every house. Waterproofing is both 

 easy and cheap. Boiled linseed oil ap- 

 plied quickly with an ordinary paint 

 brush, dried in the sun, forms an effi- 

 cient waterproof cover ; but if lamp- 

 black is mixed with the oil to the 

 consistency of paint, the paper absorbs 

 more heat and thus keejas out the 

 cold better. 



HOW TO GROW TRAILING: 

 ARBUTUS. 



Many have tried and failed to trans- 

 plant successfully this sweetest of all 

 spring flowers. The writer of the fol- 

 lowing, in our exchanges, seems to have 

 been at considerable trouble and care to 

 secure the desired end. But, to all 

 true lovers of the May flower, time and 

 trouble count for nothing, if only they 

 can have its fragrant blossoms growing 

 near them. 



"I prepared a border of ground on 

 the north side of my wood house, one 

 foot in depth and composed of one- third 

 leaf mould from the woods. It was so 

 placed as to receive at the bottom a por- 

 tion of the drip from the eaves of the 



