APPENDIX 145 



LITTER AND THE FROST. The farmyard and stable and the manure- 

 heap, and many things close to our hands in the autumn, make capital 

 litter for sheltering such things that need protection from the frost 

 and very cold winds. Common bracken makes a light and warm 

 covering for many tender subjects. Pea litter, if spread out and dried, 

 may be utilized. Rushes and sedges, laced together, will be found of 

 service for putting over framelights when mats are not to be had. 



BURNING GARDEN REFUSE. The refuse of a garden may be utilized 

 and put to a good purpose, or it may be allowed to become a great nuisance. 

 All prunings, weeds, and decayed vegetables should be burnt, and the 

 ashes returned to the soil, which they will make more fertile. Never dig 

 in to the soil wood prunings or a fungus will grow from them as they 

 decay. Burn everything of a woody nature. 



THE MULCH. Materials spread upon the ground in considerable 

 thickness to conserve moisture in dry weather, which may be stable 

 manure, sewage refuse, grass cuttings, charred refuse, bracken, cocoa- 

 fibre, the rotted portion of refuse-heaps, peat-moss litter that has been 

 used in poultry-houses, etc., rotted turf, leaves, etc. The mulch must be 

 removed from the crops in continued wet weather and when ripening of 

 bulbs, etc., is imminent ; and the stuff may with advantage be dug into 

 the soil at any convenient time. 



THE APPLICATION OF WATER. Rains, mists, and dews supply the 

 bulk of liquids, but artificial waterings are often necessary. These are 

 given morning or evening (not while the hot sun is upon the crops), and 

 the hoe should be used upon the ground immediately after. This action 

 creates an inch or two of dry dust upon the surface of the soil, which acts 

 as a protection from the absorbing rays of the sun, thus enabling the 

 moisture beneath to benefit the roots. 



HOME-SAVED VEGETABLE SEEDS. Choose the best-shaped, 

 largest, and generally well-appointed bulb, tuber, or root, and replant 

 in good soil ; or allow an exceptionally fine plant to run to seed. The 

 seeds are gathered when quite ripe ; or, rather, the whole plant is then 

 pulled up, and hung in the sun or warm shed to dry. The seeds must be 

 kept in a perfectly dry place until used. 



PROTECTION AGAINST BIRDS AND ANIMALS. Wire, rope, or fish- 

 netting should be provided for seed-beds, nursery-beds, and rows of 

 young Peas, etc., as a protection against birds, cats, dogs, etc. ; the netting 

 must be raised quite a foot from the ground, with all the sides and ends 

 shut in, or birds, especially, will find their way inside. Cotton or thread 

 a single line is most effective is a good protection against birds; for 

 striking against unseen threads alarms them, and drives them away. 

 Bright-coloured papers, tinsel, glass, tin, etc., placed so that the wind 

 moves them violently, are useful as bird-scarers ; also old tins knocking 

 together in the breeze ; but birds are becoming used to such artifices, and 

 require something more effective. Netting supplies this. Seeds, etc., 

 may be protected from, mice, birds, and insects by being treated with 

 paraffin, red lead, soot, and lime; but here, again, a close-meshed netting 

 often proves the best safeguard. 



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