Means of Protection against Drought and Frost. — i6g 



retarding them to such a degree that the plants set at a more 

 congenial time often overtake the coddled things set two or three 

 weeks earlier. 



Should an unusually early and warm spring induce you to 

 plant more largely before the usual time, one precaution must 

 never be lost sight of, namely, to hold a supply of good plants 

 in reserve for the very possible emergency of a mishap to those 

 set out first. Here is just where so many growers come to grief 

 annually, and almost every year we see people, after having lost 

 their plants by a late frost, anxiously hunting the country over 

 in June, for a new supply, and finally being compelled to take up 

 with a poor lot of late-grown plants, or go without. 



Devices of Protection. — Some afternoon in early spring the 

 weather reports announce the rapid approach of a cold wave, 

 and all the indications point to a coming freeze. Then comes 

 the anxious inquiry : How can we save our nice tomato plants, 

 our sweet corn, potatoes and beans, all of which were growing 

 so finely ? It will not do to stand by with folded arms, complain- 

 ing of the weather, and bad luck. Our only safety lies in cover- 

 ing the plants. This may be done by sheets of cloth or paper, 

 litter, or by boxes, large flower pots, etc. The number of boxes 

 and pots on hand in average gardens may not go very far, and I 

 would advise to make use of common manilla paper bags (the 

 two or three pound sacks of grocers) for placing over tomato, 

 and egg plants, etc. Smaller sizes will answer for pepper and 

 smaller plants generally. Round off the corners at the open 

 end slightly, and fasten the bag to the ground by a little wooden 

 pin thrust through each of the two flaps and into the ground, or 

 by a small chunk of soil or a stone placed upon each flap, as 

 may be seen in the accompanying figure. 



Devices of Protecting Plants. 





Another mode of giving protection to tomato plants in an 

 emergency, and one which I have seen practised with excellent 

 success on a larger scale, consists of covering the bent-over plant 

 with earth. Sweet corn can also be treated in same way, although 

 it is much less liable to suffer serious damage, even if left unpro- 

 tected. The soil must be carefully removed next morning, 



