90 
THE FLORIST AHD POMOLOGIST. 
[ Al'IlIL, 
bedding plants in tlie spring. I should like to get over the Covent-Garden 
Scarlet, for I believe it is not known in this country. Man^^ of the American 
varieties would be acquisitions in England.— James Taplin, South Amhoy^ New 
Jersey, U.S.A, 
PLANT PllOTECTORS. 
^^HOUGH I have^no desire -whatever to depreciate Mr. Eendle’s Patent Plant 
Protectors—quite the reverse, as I consider them in their improved state 
as a great boon to practical gardeners, from their possessing a flexibility of 
adaptation as to form and size, which cannot be claimed by any other small 
protecting expedients—yet the following quotation from Londons Gardeners' 
Magazine (hi. 77) commends itself .to more general notice than it has received 
hitherto, as being highly suggestive. It is headed :— 
“ An Economical Substitute for Hand-Glasses in Gardening. By N. M. T. 
“ Having always had the misfortune to live where there was a scarcity of hand-glasses, I have 
lately, to obviate this, gi’own my plants in pots. I do not adopt the common-place plan of 
stuffing the I'oots into a pot, and leaving the head out. I do the very reverse of this; I put the 
head in, and leave the roots out. But a description of my present planting will develop the 
whole system. The cauliflowers are planted in rows across a 10-ft. border, 3 ft. between the 
rows, and six plants in a row. After they are planted, I provide a flower-pot (32) for each 
plant, inti'oducing it through the hole, 1 in. in diameter, in the bottom of the pot. The pot 
is then firmly pressed dowm, earthed up about halfway outside to prevent its being upset, and 
the operation is completed. When protection becomes necessary, I provide a board 9 ft. long 
and 7 in. wide for each row. These can bo laid on the line of pots by a person at each end, as 
fast as they can walk, and without setting a foot on the border. When the plants begin to 
look over the pots, the boards can no longer be used as covering; they are then laid between 
the rows to walk upon. The pots are earthed level with the brim outside, and as much mould 
put in them as the plants will admit. A pot a size larger than those plunged is then placed 
beside each, and inverted over it when the plants require shelter. When no longer wanted, 
the covers are removed, and the plants earthed up as they require it. The pots they gi'ow 
in are consequently soon buried, where they remain till the cauliflowers are cut; they are 
then dug up, and laid aside for fm-ther use. 
The advantages of this simple plan are numerous; the economy is self-evident; the 
appearance neat and orderly, entirely doing away with the lumpish rmnatm'al gi’owths the 
plants exhibit when gi’own in hand-glasses. Here each plant forming the centre of its own 
little world, is left to luxuriate in single blessedness safely guarded from its enemy the slug; 
the wonns even cannot pull a leaf underground. Notwithstanding all these advantages, I do not 
expect to be miich patronized by gardeners, since, I fear, my brethren of the spade are a stiff¬ 
necked and rebellious race. It is to the cottage homes of England that I look for support, and 
proud, indeed, shall I be if I can introduce an additional comfort there. Many of their inmates 
who cannot spare from 10s. to 15s. for a hand-glass could buy a cast of pots, and enjoy through 
them a luxury at a season when it is confined to the tables of the rich.” 
Cheap and excellent protectors, though possibly now superseded by those of Mr. 
Eendle; these latter husband more warmth, and shut out more cold, than a 
common flower-pot, while the glass top is infinitely better than the opaque 
boarding during a continuance of cold weather. Still, for the mechanic, the 
cottager, and others with straitened means, the plan of growing the heads of 
plants in pots is a valuable one. It would answer well for early Potatos, as well 
as Cauliflowers ; and Lettuces and Endive might be so planted for winter use, since 
it would add to their crispness, and ensure their preservation. The late crops of 
Seakale and Ehubarb, and strong stools of Asparagus, might be forced in this 
