92 



GARDENING- FOR THE SOUTH. 



are all useful. If any of these are used, holes should be 

 left in the top that the dampness may not accumulate un- 

 derneath, which might be more injurious than the frost. 

 Common tumblers are used "in protecting small plants, to 

 be raised whenever much moisture accumulates. 



"Wooden frames covered with oiled paper are very use- 

 ful in protecting low plants. Vine-shields are also em* 

 ployed for this purpose during the winter months. A 

 very slight covering over the top will protect from frost, 

 even though the sides are exposed, but the top should 

 never be left exposed to perpendicular frost. All tender 

 plants will survive the winter better in a northern expo- 

 sure, where the changes of atmosphere are more gradual, 

 than if subjected to alternate freezings and thawings sud- 

 denly, as they are in warm exposures. 



Fruit trees while in blossom or with the young fruit 

 just formed are most easily protected from frost by having 

 a quantity of chips, dried tan, or trash of any description, 

 at hand. If the prospect of frost is pretty certain, small 

 fires are built in various parts of the garden on the wind- 

 ward side, and when burning well are covered with damp 

 trash of various kinds to create a great smoke, these are 

 kept up all night, and the protection from the clouds of 

 warm smoke rising from the garden is quite sufficient to 

 ward off all danger of frost. A large fruit garden may be 

 thus protected at an expense of less than a dollar for fuel 

 and one hand to watch the fires and keep them up all 

 night, and the pleasure and profit of a fine crop of fruit 

 when it is generally cut off is a great remuneration for the 

 small expense incurred. 



Number of Plants required to an Acre. — The 

 following table, showing the number of plants required 

 for an acre, is often of great convenience in planting 

 gardens and orchards : 



