FALL WORK IN 



and wherefores of much of the advice given in 

 this article. We do not protect plants in win- 

 ter with a view to keeping the frost away from 

 them, as many suppose, but to keep it in after it 

 has penetrated the ground about the roots of 

 the plants. In other words, we aim to prevent 

 the sun from thawing out the frost. 



It is a fact not very well understood as yet 

 by most amateur gardeners that injury to 

 plants in winter results from violent alterna- 

 tions of heat and cold, rather than continued 

 cold. To-night they freeze. To-morrow the 

 sun shines and extracts the frost, and at night 

 they freeze again. The frequent and rapid 

 alternation of these conditions brings about a 

 rupture of cells, which weakens the plant if it 

 does not ruin it. If a comparatively tender 

 plant is frozen and remains in that condition 

 throughout the winter, and the frost is ex- 

 tracted gradually from it in spring, as a gen- 

 eral thing no harm will be done. By covering 

 the roots of plants in fall we keep the sunshine 

 from interfering with the frost in the soil, and 

 it remains in control until spring weather oper- 

 ates upon it and overcomes it by such slow de- 

 grees that there are no abrupt transitions to do 

 violence to the plant-cells. In this way we 



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