HOUSE, AREA, AND WINDOW GARDEXIXQ. 



171 



foie, good reason for protecting- window-plants from 

 the drying and withering etfects of all winds coming 

 from the eastward, and this may be done either hy 

 a screen of hardy evergreens in pots, or by a blind 

 of some closely-woren substance, or by a wooden 

 screen, ^^"hen, on the other hand, the wind comes 

 from the westward, it is best to leave window-plants 

 to the full benefit of its moisture-bea.ring influences. 

 It is fortvinate for us and for our plants that we have 

 much less easterly than "westerly winds. On the 

 average we have westerly winds for 223 day? out of 

 every 365, and only lOS days of easterly wind, the 

 remaining few days ha^-ing wind from either north 

 or south ; so that, roughly speaking, we have two 

 days of moist wind for every day of dry wind. 

 To this fact we may , in a great measure, attribute 

 the beauty and luxuriance of British' gardens com- 

 pared with those on the Continent. 



There is yet another condition of the wind which 

 demands our consideration and attention, and that 

 is its temperature. This, of course, is dependent 

 to a large extent upon the season of the year, all 

 winds in winter being naturally colder than the 

 same winds in summer. But there are sometimes 

 temporary and local influences which afiect the tem- 

 perature of the wind. Thus, when icebergs come 

 further south than usual in the Atlantic Ocean, and 

 the wind blows over them before reaching our 

 shores, the wind which we are accustomed to regard 

 as a warm wind will then prove to be a very cold 

 one, and plants in exposed situations must then be 

 protected, if they are at aU tender. 



The foregoing remarks refer to natural winds, and 

 concern plants out of doors. Cultivators of in-door 

 plants are not entirely unconcerned about these 

 matters, but they are very much interested in those 

 artificial winds which we know as draughts. Open the 

 window of a warm room on a chilly day, and you at 

 once have a current of wind which is extremely pre- 

 judicial to plant-life, more perhaps from the sudden 

 change of temperature than from any other cause. 

 The air which is rushing in may not be drier than 

 that of the room ; it it be, it will do all the more 

 mischief, because it will rob the plants of some of 

 their moisture as well as chill them. 



Protection from Bain, Hail, and Snow.— 

 Bain, if it be moderate, is beneficial to pot-plants 

 provided that they have not been just watered. 

 Heavy rain bruises the leaves and spoils their beauty 

 quite as much as a high wind does. HaU cuts holes 

 through the leaves of many plants, and snow, by its 

 weight, breaks ofE branches. 



Partial protection is obtained in covered verandahs 

 and balconies ; and where the eaves of the roof pro- 

 ject far beyond the walls, a great deal of protection 



is thus afiorded to plants on window-sills, especially 

 to those of the upper windows. 



For plants in balconies and on window-siUs, there 

 is no better protection than a stout roller-blind fixed 

 to the wall of the house. It can be used not only as 

 a protection against hail, snow, or heavy rain, but 

 also against siin when it is very scorching. The 

 blind will protect the roots almost as much as it 

 does the branches, leaves, and flowers. 



Protection from Heat and Cold. — The 



stout roller-bUnd, recommended as a screen from 

 snow, hail, and heavy rain, will also be found of great 

 use as a protection for fiowers and leaves against ex- 

 tremes of heat and cold. The roots of pot-plants can 

 be protected against both by the use of double pots, 

 with a layer of dry moss or cocoa-nut fibre between 

 the two, or by 'keeping the pots in boxes of either 

 material. Something of this kind should be provided 

 for all plants in pots in very exposed situations. 



If a plant should unfortunately get injured by 

 frost, it should upon no account be moved into a 

 warm place, as the sudden thawing of its frozen 

 juices would in all probability burst its tissues, and 

 either kill or seriously injure it. It should be put 

 in the coldest room in the house, or iu any place 

 where the temperature is only a few degrees above 

 freezing ; there it wUl thaw gradually, and may the 

 next iy be removed into its usual temperature, 

 when it wiH very probably be found to be none the 

 worse for its freezing. 



Protection from Bust. — This is not an easy 

 matter to accomplish by means of any temporaiy 

 arrangement, since dust finds its way through most 

 kinds of canvas. Prevention is here better than 

 cirre; by prevention is meant removal from the 

 dusty atmosphere. Window-siUs of houses near a 

 road| over which there is much ti-aJBc, are especially 

 liable to dust, but there is not much harm in this 

 dust, as it is easily washed off by using a water-pot 

 with a fine rose. If the watering required to re- 

 move the dust is likely to make the roots too wet, 

 this difficulty can be got over by laying the plant 

 on its side before watering it, or by sUpping over the 

 stem of the plant a round piece of stout cardboard 

 with a sHt in it (Fig. 1-i). It should be rather 

 larger than the rim of the pot, and wUl, if pamted 

 with oil-paint, last a long time. 



Another way is to have two semi- circles of card- 

 board, with a notch in each for the stem (Fig. 15). 

 Either of these plans will prevent too much water 

 going into the roots, which is particularly to be 

 avoided in the dry weather which prevails when 

 dust is plentiful. These cards are also useful when 

 you have to turn a plant upside down to dip it in a 



