CHAPTER II 



GLASS 



IN order to protect and to forward plants, various 

 glass covers are used ; and these covers, of every kind 

 and description, are usually spoken of as " glass." 

 They comprise all the range of forcing -hills, cold- 

 frames, hotbeds and glasshouses. 



Every vegetable-gardener, however small his area, 

 needs glass. Thereby he is enabled to secure a crop 

 in advance of its normal season. He becomes, in a meas- 

 ure, independent of season or even of climate. The 

 vegetable -gardener is less subject to loss from vagaries 

 of frost than the fruit-grower is. He can cover his 

 plants. The plants are also more amenable to treat- 

 ment : he can sometimes harden them off, so that they 

 withstand frost. He can grow them at such times as 

 to escape the dangerous season : the fruit-grower's 

 plants must stand and take it. 



The end and aim of all glass is to forward plants 

 beyond their season. This result is obtained by pro- 

 tecting the plants from unpropitious weather or by 

 actually forcing them. An example of the former ob- 

 ject is the protection during winter of hardy plants 

 which are started in the fall. The plants are kept 

 alive in the cold weather by means of the covering, 



