94 FLOWER-GARDENING. 



ATTRACTING FROST WITH WATER. 



Most persons misapprehend the true philosophy of this 

 subject. We frequently hear of placing a pailful of water 

 beneath a tree, when there is danger of the frost destroying 

 the blossoms, and tying a wet rope to the top of the tree, 

 with the lower end in the pail of water. The water is said to 

 attract the frost. All this is a ludicrous absurdity. There is 

 no efficacy in a vessel of water, except so far as it radiates 

 heat. A pail or tub containing water will tend to keep 

 plants warm by radiating heat, just as a fire in a stove tends to 

 keep up the temperature around it. If a pail of water attracts 

 frost, so does a heated stove. A large vessel of hot water, 

 placed near pots containing plants, will keep them from being 

 injured by cold, for several hours. The same is true if the 

 earth in the pots be warmed, through and through, either by 

 warm water or in some other manner. Such warm bodies of 

 any kind radiate heat, for several hours, modifying the tem- 

 perature near the growing plants. A large vessel of water in 

 the open air, therefore, can afford but little heat to a plant or 

 tree. S. E. T. 



PLANTS REQUIRE LIGHT. 



In order that the ideas above advanced may be duly con- 

 sidered, it may be useful to indulge in a more minute descrip- 

 tion of the nature of plants, and to show in what manner the 

 elements operate upon them. It is an acknowledged fact, that 

 the roots of plants require moisture, and therefore penetrate 

 the earth in search of it, and that the plants themselves are 

 greatly nourished by air, and spread their branches and leaves 

 to catch as much as possible its enlivening influence. Light 

 also is so far essential, that there can be no color without it. 

 Witness the blanching of celery and endive, where the parts 

 deprived of light become white. Place a plant in almost any 



