PROTECTION FOR WALL AND ESPALIER TREES. 583 



nortliern parts and all around Paris^ and^ in fact^ over nearly- 

 all the region north of the river Loire — the most important 

 of France. The best appliance of this kind I have ever 

 seen consisted of narrow lengths of hituminized felt nailed on 

 cheap frames from six feet to eight feet long^ and about 

 eighteen inches wide. The use of these on walls devoted to 

 the culture of choice Pears, Peaches, &c., would result in a 

 marked improvement. The temporary coping has a great 

 advantage in being removable, so that the trees may get the 

 full benefit of the summer rains when all danger is past, 

 and not suffer from want of light near the top of the 

 wall, as they would if such a 

 wide protection were perma- 

 nent. I believe that similar 

 copings would be much 

 more effective than any of 

 the netting and canvas pro- 

 tections now in use in Eng- 

 lish gardens. 



The commonest temporary 

 coping seen in Prance is 

 made of straw nailed between 

 laths j it seems to answer its 

 purpose very well, but is 

 not so neat and satisfactory 

 as that made of bituminized felt. Whatever kind of protec- 

 tion be employed, care is taken to throw the wet well off 

 the wall ; the slightest experience of the effects of frost on 

 vegetation will show the wisdom of this course. Of what 

 does it avail to place a net or a few branchlets of trees 

 before a fruit wall, if we allow the cold rains and sleet to 

 dash on to every tender little brush of pollen -bearing stamens 

 on the wall ? Even when the French do employ canvas in 

 front of a wall they usually use the wide temporary coping 

 too, thus keeping the wall dry and preventing radiation. 



Whatever imperfect efforts we make to protect our 

 wall trees, nobody in England ever thinks of protect- 

 ing espaliers, but the French sometimes do it with 

 success. Fig. 338 shows a mode of arranging two 



Fig. 337. 



Wall witli permanent coping of tiles, 

 temporary one of straw mats, and 

 canvas in front. 



