IN FLORIDA 25 



Be sure that it is carefully filled in around the stem or stems 

 and it will be well to examine it occasionally through the 

 winter to see that mice have not dug it away. In case of 

 warm and wet weather in winter it would be best to watch 

 herbaceous or other delicate things for fear their stems might 

 rot: if there seems to be any danger the soil should be tempo- 

 rarily removed and replaced when the weather grows cooler. 

 If plants are so treated one can be almost absolutely sure of 

 carrying the tenderest things safely through the winters of lower 

 Florida. Generally it will be found that the tops of plants so 

 treated will receive but little damage, and even if they are de- 

 stroyed fresh suckers will spring up from the living part. The 

 mound should be so constructed that no water can enter at the 

 stem of the plant. 



In some cases a mound of earth may be made at the side of a 

 small plant just before a hard frost, the plant bent down over it, 

 the whole covered with gunny sacks and earth laid over all to 

 the depth of several inches. This must be removed immediately 

 after danger is over and, at the best, it will be nearly as hard 

 on the plants as a frost. Leaving native plants for protection, 

 or planting rapid growing vegetation among one's tender things, 

 is some help. 



But little protection can be made for vegetation against 

 hurricanes. So far as possible I try to have my things grow 

 low, and I am glad to have trees and shrubs with as many stems 

 as possible. Never trim trees up so that they will have long, 

 naked trunks, for this gives the wind an extra leverage whereby 

 it can uproot or break them. If trees and large shrubs are 

 frozen down allow them to send up a number of sprouts if they 

 will. By so doing they will form low heads which will help to 

 protect them from the next frost and from heavy winds. By 

 allowing the vegetation in your grounds to grow up densely 

 it will be more likely to withstand severe wind storms than if 

 it is open, as the trees protect each other. 



In low land or regions underlaid with hardpan it will be 

 necessary to cut ditches or put in tiling to carry off the water. 

 Sometimes as much as thirty inches of rain falls in a month, 

 and this must be promptly removed. 



