2686 



PLANTING 



PLANTING 



given them and the soil firmly pounded around them 

 before replanting. This is essential for continued vigor. 

 Cut all vines of the clematis to within 1 or 2 feet of the 

 ground and lay them down, first mounding the soil a 

 few inches if surface drainage is not good and cover 

 with ashes, boxed leaves, or soil, or mulch well and 

 wrap the canes with straw. If close to a porch or steps, 

 do not let the swept snow stay over them, unless well 

 protected, as this snow solidifies and excludes air. If, 

 as some now think, the broken outer skin of the hybrid 

 forms subjects them to disease, then these varieties 

 should not be bent over, but staked and wrapped. It is 



3038. An outside cellar, in which to store roots and tubers, and 

 pots of resting plants. 



best not to cut the foliage of the eulalias or the Japan 

 iris, as it, of itself, is a good protection, but manure at 

 the base is essential. Cut down Arundo Donax, cover 

 heavily with any material, and cover all with tar paper 

 or water-tight shutters. Place half-rotted leaf-mold 

 over fern-beds, narcissi, English and Spanish iris or 

 any early-blooming bulbous plant, or a light strawy 

 covering that is easily removed. Fine old manure a few 

 inches thick is good and can remain. Place a good coat- 

 ing of stable manure around the trees on the lawn, and 

 when they have been established any length of time 

 bear in mind that the feeding-roots extend out as far 

 as the branches do. The soil under them has a double 

 duty to perform to sustain both the tree and the grass. 

 Place short stakes around groups of platycodons, 

 Asclepias tuberosa, or any other plants that are late to 

 appear in the spring. Otherwise they may be overlooked 

 in the spring and injured by digging. Examine all labels 

 and see that none is cutting into the limbs of trees. 

 Replace all rotten or defaced ones in the borders, using 

 heavy labels, as thin, ones often break off and are 

 carried away when the surplus manure is removed. 

 Cypress is a good material for labels. A. good label for 

 young trees and shrubs is made of a thin sheet of copper. 

 The name is written with a stylus and a thin white 

 paint rubbed on so as to fill in the depression. The 

 label is fastened to a copper wire ring 3 or 4 inches in 

 diameter, placed around the trunk and allowed to lie on 

 the ground. Such a label is durable, unobtrusive and 

 requires no attention for fear of cutting the wood, nor 

 can it be lost. W. C. EGAN. 



Structures for the winter protection of plants. 



Pits, cold pits, storage-pits and plant-cellars (Figs. 

 3038-3047) are structures, with the greater part sunk 

 beneath the surface of the ground, built for the purpose 

 of protecting plants in winter without continued fire- 

 heat. They are employed almost exclusively for storing 

 dormant plants. They are not suitable for storing 

 growing plants any length of time, neither are they 

 houses in which to grow plants. They should face the 



south and be sheltered against north winds by buildings 

 or other windbreaks. Owing to their position they 

 should be put in well-drained ground only and well pro- 

 tected against surface water. A well-designed frame- 

 yard is the best possible place for small pits. 



The coldframe used by market-gardeners for winter- 

 ing cabbage and lettuce for spring plantings, or by the 

 florists for pansies, primroses, forget-me-nots, and the 

 like, is really a simple pit. Such shallow pits, with 

 proper protection, are useful for many other small 

 plants which would be injured by severe weather. A 

 deep pit, like a coldframe, is shown in Fig. 3037. A pit 

 built on the plan of the old-fashioned "outside cellar" 

 (Fig. 3038) is useful for storing tubers and roots. 

 See that it is well ventilated. A section of another pit is 

 shown in Fig. 3039. More elaborate pits, for accommo- 

 dating large plants, are illustrated in Figs. 3040-3047. 



Double glazed hotbed sashes are now used and can 

 be employed for the pits shown in Figs. 3043-3046, or 

 wherever winter protection is required, as it takes too 

 much time to cover the ordinary sash with mats and 

 shutters. These sashes cost a little more and they are 

 heavier; it may be well to employ, therefore, a method 

 for ventilation which obviates the necessity of lifting. 

 They lessen the labor and let in sunlight all day. A 

 thin layer of air is shut in by glass; the depth of this 

 layer is the thickness of the sash bar; it keeps in heat 

 and so keeps out frost. It is possible that some dust 

 and perhaps fungous growth may accumulate or form 

 within the layers. The glazing can be done at home, 

 the lower glass being put in without putty and held in 

 grooves on sides and ends and on the sash-bars by thin 

 strips of wood. 



For forms of pits, consult Figs. 3043-3046. Figs. 

 3043-3045 show inexpensive and convenient pits for 

 small and medium-sized plants. They may be built 

 4 feet or less below the level of the ground, the height 

 and width as shown in the diagrams; the length should 

 be some multiple of 3, any thing between 9 and 30 feet, 

 so that the glass roof may be made of hotbed sash and 

 also protected by the straw mats and wooden shutters 

 in common use. See Hotbeds. These pits are useful for 

 storage in winter and also for carrying some of the 

 hardier greenhouse plants in autumn until the houses 

 are relieved of the chrysanthemum crop. Figs. 3043, 

 3044 make light- hotbeds in spring, if filled with the 

 leaves which formed their winter protection, and are 

 also available for growing such plants as euphorbia 

 during the summer. They are generally too deep for 

 dung hotbeds. These pits are planned to run east and 

 west. If Fig. 3045 is thus placed, the roof on the north 

 side may be made of plank instead of glass, but if it runs 



3039. Nurseryman's cold pit. A cheap device for wintering plants 

 that require comparatively little light. 



north and south it should have a glass roof on both 

 sides. Easy access to all is obtained through the roof by 

 removing a sash. Sometimes a door can be built at one 

 end. Fig. 3043 does not cost much more than Fig. 3044, 

 and furnishes more room. By putting a few doors in 

 the board roof, excellent ventilation and access is 

 provided. Fig. 3045 gives the best head-room, but is 

 rather dark for evergreens with soft foliage, e.g., 

 Cytisus canariensis, unless the whole roof is glass. A 



