CHAPTER IV 

 GOING INTO WINTER QUARTERS 



As winter approaches, the gardener must meet it, watching 

 carefully for each of its stages, and changing his work as the 

 seasons change. The stages are three, not considering the 

 work of potting plants for the winter, which I will speak of in 

 another chapter. 



First comes the period of light frosts which are yet strong 

 enough to kill the tender plants. 1 The gardener should 

 learn to know when such frosts are expected. The signs are 

 a west or northwest wind, occurring during the afternoon ; a 

 clear sky ; a chill in the air. If the wind is so brisk as cer- 

 tainly to continue all night, or if the sky is clouded, there will 

 probably be no frost. But often the gardener is deceived as to 

 what the wind or clouds will do. A strong wind will suddenly 

 drop, the clouds will clear away, and at about two o'clock in 

 the morning a biting frost will settle in. 



Gardeners who live on hills have one safeguard. Frost is 

 like water, and drains down the sides of hills to settle in the 

 valleys. The hills are therefore likely to escape light frosts. 



But whenever the gardener feels afraid that a frost will 



1 Tender annual plants are those which are killed by a light frost. Ex- 

 amples are tomatoes and squashes among vegetables, nasturtiums and 

 cosmos among flowers. The tops of dahlias, gladioli, and potatoes are 

 tender, though their roots are not injured till the ground is frozen. Hardy 

 annual plants are killed only by heavy frosts ; examples are cauliflower 

 and sweet peas. See the planting table, and for other classes of plants 

 see page 91. 



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