TO PREVENT WINTER-KILLING 57 
cover the tops in some manner. Straw can be 
used for this purpose, or pine or spruce boughs 
cut in the woods and stuck up against the plant. 
I have also seen canvas stretched across a vine 
to save it; but the best method is to take the 
vine down, lay it out very carefully, making sure 
that none of the branches is bent very much and 
apt to break, then cover the tops with leaves, 
stable litter, or soil. The number of supposedly 
tender plants that can in this way be grown 
in this north-temperate latitude will astonish 
you. 
With very tender plants pursue the same 
method, only first cover the tops with soil, well 
mounded up, so that it will to some extent shed 
water. After the soil develops a little crust of 
frost, apply the mulch of leaves, letting the 
hardiness of the plant determine the thickness. 
Put some rough stable litter on top of the leaves 
to prevent them from blowing away; do not use 
anything heavy for this purpose, as it packs 
them too tight. After each heavy snow-fall, 
shake the leaves up well, and do not, under any 
circumstances, let them get caked and frozen 
into a solid mass, as the frost will then surely 
reach the plant, for it goes through solid matter 
much more quickly than through loose material. 
