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pits, and transmit decay to those which would otherwise 

 keep sound. The feeding properties are not destroyed 

 if they are fed at once, but they rapidly decay. They 

 should be cooked. Freezing in the pits has been 

 alluded to. Nothing prevents freezing in the pits so 

 thoroughly as a covering of short straw or dung, laid 

 over the pits when already covered by earth. It is 

 necessary, however, that the straw should lie closely. 

 For this reason strong, unbroken straw is notVso 

 effective, unless it is put on in the form of thatch. 



Sea-Blight 



Somewhat allied to the injury caused to the growing 

 plant 'by frost is that caused by sea-blight. Districts 

 near to the coast are sometimes seriously affected by 

 this, and its effecfc is noticed for a long distance inland 

 when the blight is very severe. The atmosphere 

 appears to be charged with an unusual quantity of 

 saline matter, and is sometimes accompanied by fog 

 and wind. Last year there was very severe blight, and 

 this occurred during the severe frost in May. Other 

 plants, especially evergreens, were much affected by it, 

 and on these the injury was more particularly notice- 

 able on the seaward side. There is practically no 

 means of protecting large breadths of the crop from it. 



N 



