386 



niE PRACTICAL GARDENER. 



the nets, which of course derive no benefit from them. Instead 

 of being hung up in so unmeaning a manner, they should be 

 placed out at the distance of fifteen or eighteen inches from 

 the walls, by means of sticks of that length placed with their 

 but- end against the wall, and their other end either slit or 

 having a natural fork to keep the net more steadily out ; and 

 these placed at the distance of two or three feet apart. In 

 putting on the nets they should be put on pretty tight at first, 

 and their ends nailed close to the wail on all sides, then these 

 sticks put in to lieep them from the wall, will tighten them up 

 sufficiently to render them steady, that no wind can displace 

 them. 



Nets made of woollen yarn are much better than any other 

 sort of net, and may be made or purchased at a trifling ex- 

 pense, and will last for many years. These nets are in gene- 

 ral use in Scotland, and in some places in England. The 

 advantage they have over nets made of flax or hemp is, that 

 their meshes are rendered much smaller than they really are 

 by the bristleness of the material, and its constant tendency to 

 contract ; and by its disposition to attract moisture, such as 

 cold dews and hoar-frost, protects the blossom, while a suffi- 

 cient portion of light gets in to the trees. It may be ren- 

 dered more or less close in texture by tightening or loosening 

 it, according to circumstances. This simple contrivance was 

 invented, in 1805, by two ladies in Perthshire, for their bro- 

 ther's garden. Nets made of straw are used in the Dalkeith 

 gardens, and of bass in the gardens of Sweden. 



Protecting the blossom with mats is a common method, 

 but is very troublesome, and in the end expensive. Protect- 

 ing by means of oil-paper frames is adopted in some places 

 with success. These frames are made like common sashes, 

 only very slight, and are covered with common printing paper 

 of the cheapest quality, which after being pasted on, is painted 

 over with boiled linseed-oil. These frames are placed in front 

 of the trees, and made moveable by contrivances, which must 

 vary according to circumstances. If the slope from the wall 

 be considerable, a few frames must be made to fit the spaces 

 at the ends. These frames are not put on until the blossoms 

 are pretty well expanded ; till which time they are not very apt 



