PROTECTION OF THE SOWINGS. 275 



destructive game no false scruples regarding sport should deter us 

 from exterminating them, whether they are quadrupeds or birds. 

 Where deer and antelope are numerous, the cultivated lines, 

 whether continuous or not, are liable to be converted into their 

 regular tracks ; in which case, besides browsing off the tender 

 succulent shoots, they trample down or break young seedlings. To 

 minimise this danger the cultivated places should be made as 

 inconspicuous as other governing conditions will allow. This 

 precaution also reduces the depredations of rats, which always 

 like clean soil, and diminishes the numbers of insects, many 

 species of which principally frequent warm sunny spots where the 

 soil has been loosened. Insectivorous birds and other animals 

 should be encouraged. 



PROTECTION AGAINST FROST. A simple and cheap method of 

 securing this protection is, if the seedlings are small enough, to 

 put conical grass shades (Fig. 97) over them. The shades should 

 be strong enough to withstand wind and rain, and must let in 

 sufficient light, air and warmth to prevent the plants from sicken- 

 ing. The way to keep the seedlings warm, while at the same time 

 protecting them from the morning sun is to keep the shades slightly 

 open on the south-west side. If the grass surrounding the seed- 

 lings is tall and not too far away, it should be brought together 

 over each seedling or group of seedlings and tied up in a knot at 

 the top. Indeed, if the vegetation on the uncultivated intervals is 

 full and dense enough and stands well above the seedlings, it should 

 be left untouched or it may be slightly bent down over them. If 

 the frosts are not severe, it will often suffice to earth up the base of 

 the seedlings in order to protect the buds in the vital region of the 

 root-collum. Lastly, if the seedlings are too large to be protected 

 by the surrounding vegetation or by means of grass shades, grass 

 may be tied up or coiled loosely round the stems and main branches 

 of the seedlings, and especially over the end of the leading shoot. 

 But when frosts are very severe, the only way to obviate complete 

 failure is, if direct sowing is allowable, to sow none but really 

 hardy species, at the;outset at least. 



PROTECTION AGAINST EXCESSIVE INSOLATION AND DROUGHT. All 

 the measures detailed under the preceding head answer here also. 

 But, as a rule, the sun alone is not so great a danger to seedlings 

 as frost, and, in most cases, the shade cast laterally by the vegeta- 

 tion standing on the uncultivated intervals will suffice. It is chiefly 

 in the case of yearlings, and particularly of young seedlings of coni_ 

 fers or belonging to species that come into leaf at the beginning 



