30 Thk Canadian Horticulturist. 



Cloth and Paper i or Hot-Bed Sashes. — We have been experimenting 

 during the last two years in using substitutes for glass for hot-bed frames, but 

 have not been very successful. We have tried cloth saturated with pure linseed 

 oil and heavy oiled paper prepared by a firm in Hamilton for this purpose, but 

 neither of these were sufficiently durable to give perfect satisfaction. If we could 

 succeed in using some such substitute, it would be much more economical than 

 glass, and, at the same time much lighter to handle. 



Prof. Bailey in his "Rule Book,' - gives a recipe for preparing* oil-cloth or 

 paper for this purpose, which, perhaps, would answer the purpose better than 

 those we have tried. It is as follows : — Use a sash without bars, and stretch 

 wires or strings across it to secure it as a rest for the paper. Procure stout 

 manilla wrapping paper and paste it firmly on the sash with fresh flour paste. 

 Dry it in a warm place, and then wipe the paper with a damp sponge to cause 

 it to stretch evenly. Dry again and then apply boiled linseed oil to both sides 

 of the paper, and dry again in a warm place. 



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PRUNING TREES IN COLD CLIMATES. 



Sir. — When is the most favorable season for pruning trees at the north ? Is fall or 

 winter pruning commendable ? 



W. 



Reply by T. H. Hoskins, Newport, Vt. 



In localities where the thermometer does not go far below zero, I do not 

 know of any serious objection to the rule, " prune when the knife is sharp " 

 with the hardier Russians. The same rule is not objectionable in Canada. 

 I might say it is generally applicable where the cold weather does not discolor 

 the wood. Nevertheless a more thoroughly safe rule is to prune in the spring 

 before the frost it out of the ground, choosing the time when there is still 

 a little snow, or the surface is frozen. It is not pleasant to go out pruning in the 

 wind. The reason why it is best, in the cold north, at least, not to prune late in 

 autumn, is that the recently cut edges of bark are sometimes killed by freezing \ 

 while, if the work is done in the early spring, healing begins as soon as the sap 

 starts ; and when the limbs removed are not large, the wounds will be nearly 

 healed over before fall. Wounds too large for that ought to be coated with 

 thick paint soon after the cutting is done. A fine saw is better than a knife for 

 all but small limbs, as the slight roughness left by the saw enables a thicker 

 coating of paint, and prevents its scaling off. With these simple common-sense 

 rules well tested by long practice, there ought to be no mystifications in the 

 matter. 



