WINTER PROTECTION 193 



which, unable to stand the strain, are ruptured and 

 the plant destroyed. 



Any protection which ignores this condition must 

 prove ineffective. The most perfect covering is one 

 which preserves the most even temperature, and for 

 this reason it is best to defer placing g,ny kind of 

 covering over plants, trees or shrubs till they have 

 completed their season of growth and shed their 

 leaves and become practically dormant. If, in addi- 

 tion to this, the ground is already frozen so that 

 the protection may hold the frost in the ground, so 

 much the better. To keep the majority of plants in 

 cold storage from the time they are laid down in 

 the fall until they are awakened in the spring should 

 be the aim with all but the most tender of plants. 

 Tender roses and water lilies, on the other hand, are 

 benefited by a covering which keeps out frost, though 

 not excluding air, for plants need air even during 

 their long winter's sleep. For this reason it is al- 

 ways well, in protecting such plants as do not die 

 down to the ground in fall, to give the necessary 

 amount of covering and then protect the covering 

 itself by boards or something which will shed water, 

 always remembering to allow room for the circula- 

 tion of air. In covering single plants of low growth 

 it is generally convenient to pile leaves lightly about 

 it and then turn a box over the whole. This not only 

 keeps out wet but retains the leaves in place, but in 



