THE STRAWBERRY GARDEN. 199 



thing more remained to be done. Hiring a horse, and hay- 

 rigging, Johnny drove to the woods to gather leaves. He 

 hired a boy to help him, and in the course of a day they 

 procured dry leaves enough to cover the entire plantation. 

 A load of loose brush was added, and the next day the 

 plants were covered from sight, and the brush spread over 

 all, to keep everything safe from the wind. 



The entire expense of this operation was just six 

 dollars. 



The intelligent reader here wonders why this covering 

 was delayed till the ground was frozen. If the leaves 

 were to serve as a blanket to keep the plants warm, why 

 was it not spread before cold weather ? 



Simply because it was not to keep them warm, but 

 cold. The shelter was not used to ward off the cold, but 

 the heat. Having become well frozen the leaves were used 

 to keep them so. It is not the extreme cold that injures, 

 but the varying heat and cold of our uncertain climate, 

 the bright sun thawing out the soil one day, and the bit- 

 ing north wind freezing it the next ; this alternate expan- 

 sion by heat and contraction by cold is the cause of all 

 the mischief. Better let them freeze hard, and then stay 

 so till the warm weather really returns. 



A few days after these things the snow flew and winter 

 began without. 



Within too. Our Mary did not seem to improve. She 



