THE BEAR-QUICK APPLE 319 



he rarely has unless he is warned beforehand that it may 

 be required. Thin canvas is not the sort of substance 

 that might be expected to be available at an hour's 

 notice. The thing to do is to order it when the garden 

 seeds are purchased in winter. It is called No. 4 tiffany. 

 If kept in store it will be available, not only as a pro- 

 tection against frost on fruit trees, but as a sun-screen 

 over choice Daffodils and Tulips, which fade quickly or 

 have the colour burnt out of them by hot sun. A similar 

 thing happens with most of the salmon and orange- 

 coloured Sweet Peas in summer. The same sheets of 

 tiffany that, supported by a framework over a bed of 

 late Tulips, screened them from the sun in the daytime, 

 might, supported by another framework placed in 

 position round the fruit trees, protect them from frost 

 in the early morning. The Tulips, canny flowers, close 

 at night, folding their pistil and stamens within the 

 thick petals ; the Apples are not so wise. 



If the fruit trees are growing on a wall it will suffice 

 to hang the canvas in front of them, or even to make a 

 curtain of tanned fish-netting. 



When a large area of fruit trees are established in the 

 open, the question of averting injury from frost is much 

 more complicated. The screen and curtain expedients 

 are no longer available. As a substitute, experiments 

 have been made with a moving screen of smoke, and this 

 has been found effectual. 



Early preparation is necessary. To get smoke there 

 must be ignition. To have ignition particular materials 

 are necessary, and they are not available in quantity at 

 a moment's notice. To be on the safe side, the fruit- 

 grower must move while his trees are still dormant. 

 When the trees come into bloom he must have his imple- 

 ments and material at hand, so that there may not even 



