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SCIENCE OF GAKDENING. 



12. — Sheltering and Protecting* 



Shelter from winds should be given by loose and 

 meshy, not solid materials. Trees and shrubs are better 

 for the purpose than walls, as they exhaust the force of 

 the currents, while walls only divert and increase its 

 power. Hurdles filled in loosely with reeds or rough 

 laths, or branches of pine or furze, are also preferable, in 

 point of shelter, to closely boarded ones, for the same 

 reason. 



Shade from the sun's rays should, in like manner, be 

 thin and partial only. A few fir branches stuck around 

 the plant to be shaded, or some very thin canvas or 

 gauze stretched over it, will generally suffice ; the object 

 being merely tp break the extreme power of the sun's 

 rays, and not to shut them out entirely. Anything dense 

 or opaque is therefore objectionable. Mulching applied 

 over the roots, to keep the soil very moist, will be a 

 good substitute for shade in some cases. Plants rarely 

 want shading, unless when they have been newly re- 

 moved, or are in bloom. 



Protection from frost may be secured by simply inter- 

 cepting the radiating process. Whatever keeps plants 

 moderately dry at the roots will greatly help to protect 

 them ; for frosts act far less upon them at that time than 

 when they are in a wet state. A temporary pent-house, 

 or small tent-like canopy, open at the sides, will occa- 

 sionally be sufficient both to keep plants dry and to 

 prevent radiation. But in very severe weather they 

 may be covered up more closely, bearing in mind that 

 the point always to attain is to stop radiation rather 

 than to communicate additional heat. 



When plants have, by the sudden occurrence of frost 

 or any other accident, become slightly frozen, and their 

 tissue is not actually destroyed, they may often be saved 

 by watering them with cold water just before sun-rise 

 in the morning, and covering them over with a mat or 

 other object which will keep them in the dark until 

 they have gradually thawed. The design is to prevent 

 the sun from shining upon them till they are quite 

 restored. 



