COVERING FOR HOT BEDS AND COLD FRAMES 81 



of 3 inches wide to hang down like drapery. This will give free 

 ventilation and permit of proper light conditions. Wire can be used 

 in place of lath and the strip of cloth pinned on. 



Cloth can be made serviceable for some time as covers by water- 

 proofing. Stretch the cloth tight on the frame. Melt 4 oz. paraffine in 

 a pan on the stove, then carry it out doors and add one quart of 

 gasoline and mix. Spray or paint the mixture on the cloth. The 

 gasoline will evaporate and leave the cloth well waterproofed by the par- 

 affine. But though covers are important, it must not be forgotten that 

 a properly adjusted touch of the sun is essential to most plants. In 

 many cases the cloth and lath shades of our seed beds in California do 

 not have sides or ends; they are simply umbrella-like, and moss will 

 form even with full circulation of air if the shade is too dense. For 

 instance, we can get plenty of moss on the ground surface on the 

 north side under the shadow of the dense head of a Phoenix palm and 

 none on the south side of the same plant. The air is free to circulate 

 on one side as on the| other, but the dense shade keeps the surface 

 continually damp on the north side, and there the moss appears. 

 Unquestionably aeration is exceedingly important in closed-in seed 

 beds and frames, but just the right touch of the sun is a great 

 thing also. 



