46 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



is in one piece, and hence it must be lifted off bodily 

 to give access to the plants, or partially from its base 

 to admit air to them. 



To prevent the trouble and inconvenience of this, 

 the hand-light in two pieces (Fig. 7) was invented, 

 the base or vertical portion being in one part and 

 the roof or sloping portion in another. This form 

 insures that the base of the light shall always be 

 air-tight, a cultural point of great importance, as 

 chills there seriously affect growth. Air can be 

 freely admitted by tilting up one side, and that 

 the sheltered one of the top, or by turning it 

 slightly or boldly out of the square, as in Fig. 7. 

 By lifting the top off wholly, free access is had to 

 the plants for purposes of top-dressing, culture, 

 training, &c. The tops are held firmly in position 



Marrow, and many other purposes, such as the fos- 

 tering and the growth of seeds and plants ; and no 

 garden can be properly furnished with horticultui-al 

 apphances without several hand-lights. In large 

 gardens the supply ranges from two to five or even 

 twenty dozen. 



MISCELLANEOUS PROTECTORS. 

 Grlass and Earthenware. — Various other con- 

 trivances have been adopted to run abreast with or 



by their own weight ; but in very windy or exposed 

 positions, projections p*'Oceed from the cap or cover- 

 ing part of the light, that overlap the bottom por- 

 tion. These hold the two together as in a Yice, and 

 render any displacement quite impossible, while the 

 specific gravity of the top insures its vertical se- 

 curity. 



Hand-lights are made of different sizes, and are of 

 the greatest possible use in horticultural practice. 

 Perhaps the most useful are those of fifteen or 

 eighteen inches square, with a height of level side 

 of six or nine inches, and a total height of fifteen or 

 eighteen inches. These are admirably adapted for 

 the wintering of Cauliflower plants, each light hold- 

 ing five ; placing over ridge Cucumbers or Vegetable 



supersede cloches and hand-lights. These have all 

 been useful in assisting cultivators in their incessant 

 warfare against climatic severities. One of the 

 simplest of these is an inverted flower-pot. Being 

 opaque, these of course have to be removed or tilted 

 up in the day-time. They are, however, extremely 

 useful for the protection of such plants as Dahlias, 

 Cauhflowers, «fcc., in the early summer, as they re- 

 sist all the late spring frosts with perfect ease and 

 success. 



Attempts used to be made to render them more 

 useful and to convert them into day protectors as 

 well as night, either by enlarging the holes in the 

 bottom, or by knocking the bottom out and placing 

 a sheet of glass over it, keeping the latter in posi- 



