SHELTERS. 



466 



SHELTERS. 



may require. There is no difficulty in 

 making a hurdle of this description, such 

 as is shown in Fig. i. The first thing to 

 be done is to obtain a piece of wood, about 

 3 or 4 inches broad and the same in thick- 

 ness, and to draw a line down the centre of 

 the uppermost side as a guide for boring 

 holes in it, about 6 inches apart, which 

 may be done with a brace and I inch bit, 

 or a I inch auger. The holes at each end 

 should be rather longer, say from I inch to 

 i inch in diameter. This piece of wood, 

 which may be of any length deemed most 

 convenient for the purpose, and which is 

 shown in Fig. 2, serves as a frame or 

 foundation for the hurdle. The next step 

 is to get some stakes to serve as uprights, 

 those intended for the ends being of the 

 diameter of the holes made to receive them, 

 and the intermediate stakes only I inch in 

 diameter, and to sharpen one end of each. 

 They should be about 6 inches longer than 

 the height to which it is proposed to carry 

 the interlacing that forms the hurdle. The 

 stakes being sharpened, must then be set in 

 the frame, and the work of making, or 

 rather completing, the hurdle entered on 

 by interlacing rods of willow or hazel, or 

 any suitable material bet ween vthe uprights. 

 Such hurdles are most useful in breaking 

 the force and mitigating the rigour of a 

 cold and boisterous wind. 



Shelters for Peas, Potatoes, &c. 



It will be seen from that which has been 

 already said on this subject, that hurdles, 

 mats, &c., thus constructed, may be easily 

 made available for the protection of early 

 peas, potatoes, &c. For rows of peas, the 

 hurdles may be placed against one another 

 on each side of the rows, meeting at the 

 top in this form, A, which is the form of 

 the letter V inverted. Two and perhaps 

 even three rows of potatoes may be covered 

 in the same manner, or if the potatoes are 

 growing in short rows in a south border, a 



rough frame may be knocked together and 

 placed over them to carry the straw mats, 

 which must be laid on the frame and tied 

 to it to prevent any chance of removal by 

 the wind. 



Shelters, Small Glass and Hand- 

 glasses. 



These differ essentially from all kinds of 

 glazed structures, from the small garden 

 frame with a light over it, or the different 

 kinds of plant protectors of this character 

 that have been introduced of late years, 

 and which must be described in another 

 chapter. They are comparatively small in 

 size, and are extremely portable and easily 

 shifted from place to place. There are 

 two types of these shelters or handglasses, 

 differing from each other in their construc- 

 tion ; one type consisting of entire glasses, 

 mostly bell-shaped, or cylindrical, and the 

 other of small frames, usually of lead or 

 cast iron, in which flat pieces of glass are 

 set. The old leaden handlight was used 

 by every gardener when leaden casements 

 were in vogue, but it is very seldom seen 

 now, having been supplanted by the 

 stronger handlight of cast iron, which is 

 far less liable to injury from a chance blow 

 and can be glazed again and again when 

 the glass gets broken. 



Shifting Hard-wooded Plants. 



In shifting any hard-wooded plants or 

 heaths from a 48- to a 16- or 12-sized pot, 

 the soil should be used in a much rougher 

 state than for ordinary potting. The 

 draining must also be more liberal, say 

 at least 4 inches deep, and besides the 

 materials for drainage, pieces of broken 

 potsherd or charcoal should be mixed freely 

 with the soil in the process of filling up. 

 The soil should be so dry as never to stick 

 to the fingers, but by no means quite dry. 

 It should also be well consolidated as the 

 work goes on, and rammed in with a 



