4 MY SHRUBS 
lives out of doors with protection; but he never does anything 
more than grow unwell during January, and recover again by July. 
His health is the only thing that interests him, and he has no 
time to justify his existence. I think that I shall send him to 
Sir David Prain as an in-patient. 
Protection of plants during winter is a problem. I have pro- 
tected many a good plant to death, for your evergreen must have 
light and air, and if wrapped up within an inch of its life, that 
inch is often passed, and a withered ghost appears, when spring 
returns. You cannot bundle living things up in Archangel mat- 
ting, and tell them to be good and go to sleep for a third of the 
year. I think the vital parts vary, and, of course, the night tem- 
perature that may be deadly after a long day of rain, does no 
harm if the soil be dry. Frost following sharply on heavy rain 
always works the most cruel damage, while a long spell of 
east wind and nightly frosts are also very punishing. I believe 
in protecting with loose matting hung on stakes round a plant, 
and perhaps a little open litter packed round the stems above 
earth level. Overhead, light screens to break frosts are desirable 
and often necessary. These could be moved at any time, and 
kept off as much as possible by day, unless the weather is very 
inclement. With shrubs that have a wall behind them, I manage 
curtains of matting that can be flung off and only drawn when 
frost threatens. But I never wrap up anything permanently, or 
protect so that the earth about the plant gets too dry. If the 
drainage is carefully looked to when a bed is made, and the soil 
is all right, they seldom suffer below ground. Of course, most 
deciduous things get through our winters without discomfort ; 
but many of the noblest shrubs are evergreen, and in many cases, 
