chap. V.] PROTECTING FROM FROST. 121 
as possible, be of some uniform and dark 
colour. As few shreds should be used as are 
sufficient to attain the end in view; but 
these should be very firmly attached, as no¬ 
thing gives a more gloomy picture of misery 
and desolation in a garden, than trees that 
once were trained, having become detached, 
and hanging drooping from the wall. Some¬ 
times wires are fastened to walls, to which 
the plants are tied with strands of bast mat; 
the strand, after it is put round the branch, 
and the wire being gently twisted between the 
finger and thumb, in order that it may make 
a firm knot without tearing or weakening the 
ligament. Climbing shrubs are tied to the 
pillars of a verandah, or to trellis work, in 
the same manner; as are also flowers to 
sticks, or slight wooden or wire frames, with 
the exception that, in their case, the bast 
does not require twisting. 
Protecting from frost is an essential part of 
culture to a lady gardener, particularly in so 
uncertain a climate as that of England. Not 
only the blossoms of peaches and nectarines, 
and those of other early flowering fruit-trees, 
are liable to be injured by the spring frosts; 
