CHAP, v.] PROTECTING FROM FROST. 103 



]ono- enough to allow of the free passage of the 

 sap, and vet not so long as to permit the branch 

 to be so agitated by the wind as to bruise itself 

 against the wall. The nails should also never 

 be driven in so as to wound or corrode the 

 bark ; and, when driving in the nails, the oar- 

 dener should be very careful not to bruise the 

 branch with his hammer. The shreds should 

 be broad enough not to cut the bark, and yet 

 not so broad as to cover the buds ; and they 

 should, as much as possible, be of some uniform 

 and dark colour. As few shreds should be used 

 as are sufficient to attain the end in view; but 

 these should be very firmly attached, as nothing 

 oives a more °joomv picture of miserv and de- 

 solation in a garden, than trees that once were 

 trained having become detached, and hanging 

 drooping: from the wall. Sometimes wires are 

 fastened to walls, to which the plants are tied 

 with strands of bast mat ; the strand, after it is 

 put round the branch and the wire, being gently 

 twisted between the finger and thumb, in order 

 that it may make a firm knot without tearing or 

 weakening the ligament. Climbing shrubs are 

 tied to the pillars of a veranda, or to trelliswork, 

 in the same manner ; as are also flowers to 

 sticks, or slight wooden or wire frames, with the 

 exception that, in their case, the bast does not 

 require twisting. 



Protecting from frost is an essential part of 

 culture to a lady gardener, particularly in so 

 uncertain a climate as that of England. Not 

 only the blossoms of peaches and nectarines, 

 and those of other early flowering fruit trees, 

 are liable to be injured by the spring frosts ; but 



