46 GARDENING FOR PROFIT. 



day or two, which sometimes happens ; but if they 

 have to be thus temporarily protected, be careful 

 to strip off the sashes again, so as to harden the 

 plants for cold weather. In cold weather, even on 

 clear winter days, when the thermometer marks fifteen 

 or twenty degrees in the shade, they must be abundantly 

 aired, either by tilting up the sash at the back, or, better 

 still, when the day is mild, by stripping the sash off en- 

 tirely. With this hardening process there is no necessity 

 for any other covering but the sash. In our locality we 

 occasionally have the thermometer from five to ten de- 

 grees below zero for a day or two together, yet in all our 

 time we have never used mats, shutters, or any covering 

 except the glass, and I do not think we lose more than 

 two per cent., although in sections where the thermom- 

 eter falls to twenty or thirty degrees below zero, mats or 

 shutters will be necessary. They rarely pass through a 

 winter, however, without having the stems split by the 

 frost, even with us, but that does no injury, provided 

 when planting out in the open field they are so set that 

 the split part is in the ground. Cauliflower is more ten- 

 der than Cabbage or Lettuce, and the sashes must be 

 covered with mats. Some may think that the raising of 

 plants in this manner must involve considerable trouble, 

 but when they are informed that the Cabbage and Let- 

 tuce plants so raised and planted out in March or April, 

 not infrequently bring $600 per acre before the middle of 

 July, giving us time to follow up with Celery for a second 

 crop, it will be seen that the practice is not unprofitable. 

 But we have not yet done with the use of the sashes ; 

 to make them still available, spare boxes or frames are 

 made, in all respects similar to those in use for the Cab- 

 bage plants. These frames should be covered up during 

 winter with sferaw or leaves in depth sufficient to keep 

 the ground from freezing, so that they may be got at and 

 be in condition to be planted with Lettuce by the end of 



