June 21,1883. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
507 
21st 
Tn 
Leeds and Leicester Shows (last day). 
22nd 
F 
23rd 
S 
24th 
SUN 
5th Sunday after Trinity. 
25th 
M 
26th 
TU 
Royal Horticultural Society’s Committees; Pelargonium Show. 
27th 
W 
Cardiff and Croydon Rose Shows. 
SHADE AND SHADING. 
IGHT is undoubtedly of primary import¬ 
ance in the growth of plants, yet there 
are times when they have too much of 
it, and shading is resorted to. Then 
too often the other extreme is reached, 
and instead of too much sun the plants 
have too much shade, for shading, like 
other practices that are good in themselves, 
is open to abuse. Some cultivators boast that 
they never shade their plants and crops ; and 
by a sound system of ventilation, and the in¬ 
telligent regulation of atmospheric moisture in a house 
or frame, there is no doubt they succeed in producing 
good crops of Grapes, Melons, and Cucumbers, and 
have generally healthy plants. Yet it is observable 
that these non-shaders are sensible of the advantage of 
a cool north border, and are in the habit of removing 
portable frames there in hot weather for the accommo¬ 
dation of many kinds of plants. 
Ask a gardener situated on the southern slope of a 
hill and on a dry gravelly soil, with no wall or other 
building running east and west, nor any other kind of 
screen to break the rays of the sun from a slip of 
ground, if he is perfectly happy during a dry and 
brilliant summer? Instead of being uninterruptedly 
happy and gratefully content, he will have many hours 
of misery and daily longings for the shade that the 
position denies him. 
A gardener thus situated labours under great disad¬ 
vantages, and the summer is the time when the im¬ 
portance of a shaded border can be best appreciated by 
those who have the power in many cases to remedy the 
one great defect in their gardens. Walls are often 
out of the question, but a close screen of Lombardy 
Poplars may be provided at a trifling cost; and such a 
hedge when neatly clipped is an ornament rather than 
an eyesore, while it may be kept at any height required 
for any number of years. A border thus shaded and 
covered thickly with ashes is the best possible position 
that can be found outdoors for Camellias, Azaleas, 
Boses, Cytisuses, and numerous other plants that enjoy 
a sojourn in the open air, and of others which must 
have it whether they enjoy it or not. It is also pre¬ 
cisely suitable for frames in which Cinerarias, 
Primulas, Calceolarias, Fuchsias, Auriculas, Cyclamens, 
and many other plants are prepared that must be 
grown in quantity for decorative purposes. Then for 
the propagation of plants hardy and tender a shaded 
border is indispensable. A screen such as that recom¬ 
mended is quite as good if not better than a wall, for it 
does not give a dark dense shade. There are glints of 
sunlight through it and an infiltration of air, both of 
which are conducive to the well-being of plants. The 
shadow of the hedge, too, is infinitely safer than that 
afforded by the horizontal branches of trees, under 
which plants are often placed most injuriously, in 
consequence of the drip from the trees when showers 
occur; but there is no drip from a well-managed screen 
of Lombardy Poplars. 
But greenhouses, conservatories, and pits cannot be 
removed to the shade, and other means of shading have 
to be resorted to. There are two distinct kinds— 
permanent and portable. The latter is generally 
preferable, but in the case of certain houses the 
former is invaluable. Lofty conservatories which are 
kept gay with flowers, relieved with Ferns and orna- 
mental-foliaged plants, may be safely and usefully 
shaded by the application of a pigment, such as whit¬ 
ing and milk with a little oil, to the glass outside, and 
this may be made to have a pleasing appearance rather 
than otherwise. It is suitable also for houses of 
Camellias, and for Ferns, Palms, and shade-loving 
plants generally. What is known as the French lattice- 
work shading is the best and most durable, though its 
first cost is necessarily greater than that of textile 
fabrics such as canvas. These when resting on the 
glass exclude the circulation of air through the roof 
between the laps of the glass, which is an evil, if not 
the greatest evil attending too close shading. With the 
French blinds there is no great impediment to the 
circulation of air. 
When canvas blinds are used on houses and frames 
they should, wherever it is possible, be supported a few 
inches above the roof with iron rods. Those who have 
not tried this method of shading have no conception of 
its great superiority over letting the blinds rest on the 
glass. Under the latter plan the plants become drawn, 
weak, and when the shading is abused insect-infested. 
Under the former they remain sturdy, because they 
have air, just as plants outdoors remain sturdy when 
the weather is dull. 
In the case of Cucumbers, Melons, and many plants 
grown in pits and frames in a sunny position, a slight 
shade afforded by hexagon netting is often of great 
service in the middle of hot days; but always remem¬ 
ber that it is desirable to avoid shading as much as 
possible, and when it is given to give as little as 
possible. 
Shading should never be regarded as a substitute for 
watering, except on Sundays, and then it is permissible. 
We often find expressions of sympathy Wiw cabmen, 
railway guards, and policemen who have to work on 
Sundays ; but their work is pleasure in comparison 
with that of a young gardener when it is his “turn in” 
on a sunny and windy Sunday, for he often has the 
work of two or three men to do on that “ day of rest,” 
and he should be allowed the assistance of a little extra 
shading to prevent the necessity of hours of laborious 
watering. This extra shading once a week I know 
from long experience does no harm, though I fear 
there are still persons who would regard it almost as a 
crime to depart an iota from the ordinary week-day 
routine. 
An efficient system of watering lessens the necessity 
for shading, and in hundreds of instances shading is 
given when water is needed. This is decidedly wrong, 
but effective watering means anticipating the wants 
of the plants, not waiting for an expression of their 
»«. W6.—Yol. VI., Third Series. 
No. 1812 .—Vol. LXIX , Old Semes. 
