THE NEW EDEN. 17 



So the artificial arrangements of our garden are to have 

 in view the health and comfort of all its occupants alike, 

 and must follow very closely the larger pattern furnished 

 by Nature. . ^ 



THE CLIMATE. 



As it is winter time, our first care is the artiQcial tem- 

 perature ; and, of course, we need the service of that in- 

 fallible detective, a good thermometer. I need not tell 

 you that Jack Frost must be kept out entirely. He 

 stands ever ready to enter, and his entrance would be as 

 fatal as that of the " old serpent." 



The heating apparatus must, therefore, have the "gift 

 of continuance. " It may be a furnace, if its air is drawn 

 from the outside instead of the cellar. An anthracite 

 (( base-burner" is cheaper, and, if well managed, it never 

 fails ; but any common stove or grate may be made to 

 serve our purpose by adding fresh fuel at night, and cov- 

 ering with coal-slack or ashes. 



As a further precaution on very cold nights, the plants 

 should be drawn back from the windows, or covered with 

 sheets of newspaper in the form of an inverted sack. If 

 the covering is closed tightly at the top and sides, it 

 holds the warm air around the plants for some time, 

 and the temperature of the room may drop temporarily 

 even to the freezing point without injury. An ingenious 

 friend of mine, whose house is rather open, has a light 

 frame- work closely covered with two or three thicknesses 

 of paper, into which he puts his plants when necessary, 

 and so keeps them safe in the coldest nights. 



In managing our night temperature, we shall find one 

 thing in Nature's pattern exactly suited to our conven- 

 ience. Summer nights are cooler than summer days. 

 All plants require a lower temperature in darkness than 

 in light lower by at least ten degrees. They need rest 

 as well as we, and this is their way of taking it. So a 



