AMERICAN GARDENER. 151 



all, in this case is, boughs of cedar > or of fir^ or 

 laurel ; though these boughs must be, for this 

 purpose, cut up into small parts, so th it they 

 will lie close and compact ami keep out the light. 

 Some ever-green boughs, and some kive* of 

 trees thrown over them, form, perhaps, the best 

 covering in the wo Id for plants of this de-:rip- 

 tion. But, observe * y n must c the frost come. 

 The grou id must be right hard when you put the 

 covering os ; or else, the plants will rot. They 

 must see the sun no more till spring. When the 

 frost breaks ufi, take off the covering : hoe the 

 ground as ->oo<i as d y, and jroceed o perfect the 

 plants in the manner before described One of 

 these plants will produce seed enough to last you 

 for five years. There need not be many oi these 

 pla its. Lettuces a, e their rivals, and are a great 

 deal cutter. I have mentioned matting in t iis 

 article, as a thing to tie with. This matting is 

 nothing more than the threads of those lar^e 

 thin^o, in which foreign goods sometimes co r ne 

 packed up. Th~se nLi 6 s are in ^n lan-i called 

 Mats> and the th eaci > of which -ch.-y a -e compos- 

 ed, are by g;ird aers called mating. Trie gar- 

 deners uee th. for ties to Espaber trees; they 

 tie on their grafts with it; they tie up their 

 flowers with it; and, in short, it is taes^rm* of 

 th--: gardeners. The Mats, :housancU >f V.csof 

 which are imiJO!-..ed into England fr-:>m iiussia* 

 ''-- -\ -.d to c.O'.trthe hot-beds witV,a n 'l f v ri- 

 ous other purp ses. But matting H to b hal, 

 ano with -cy little trouble, without send.n^ to 

 Russ\a fork Any one who has a , 4 \arc i~e nay 

 have pie'ity of inatti.jg. When i ca ie >L >ng 

 Island, I cut down a chesnut, of about a foot dia- 



