THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 24.] 
the elaborating processes could very imperfectly be 
carried on. 
How, then, is this covering to be effected? Rus¬ 
sian mats are the material in most general use, but 
they arc far from being the best as most frequently 
applied, either to cold pits, or warm pits, &c., namely, 
throwing them either singly, or in several thicknesses, 
over the glass. To say nothing of the danger of 
breakage in such circumstances, in frosty weather, 
the impropriety of so using them will be seen from 
these facts:—First, that the mat lying close to the 
glass, will soon cease to prevent the radiation of heat 
from it; and then, secondly, as it is no proof against 
cold rains and sleet, unless when several lie over each 
other, the glass will soon become as cool with them 
as without them. 
To counteract both of these defects, gardeners are 
in the habit of enclosing a non-conducting medium, 
such as dry hay, or straw, between two mats; but 
this is always attended with more or less of a littery 
appearance. Now, to humour this prejudice for mats, 
allow us to give our opinion how they may be made 
the most of-—both as success and economy are con¬ 
cerned. Well, the first tiling to be thought of, is to 
secure a space between them and the glass; and this 
we advise to be done, by fixing the mats single, or 
double, fully stretched upon a wooden frame, the size 
of the sash to be covered. The frame to consist of 
three pieces of wood, the length of the sash, two for 
the sides, one for the centre, each from two to three 
inches wide, and from half to three quarters of an 
inch thick. Two cross pieces, lighter and narrower, 
are fixed at each end, to keep the three long ones in 
their places; and three or four more cross pieces, at 
intermediate distances, between the ends If the 
frames are neatly made, they will fit close to each 
other, and thus the glass may all be covered, with a 
body of air shut in between it and the covering. The 
mat being neither air nor water proof, will not be so 
effectual as it otherwise might be—as confined air is 
one of the best non-conductors of heat—but still 
a great improvement will be effected over merely 
throwing the mat on the glass, as the heat that is 
radiated from the glass to the mat will, to a great 
extent, be radiated back again. 1 can well recollect 
what hard thinking, and scratching of the cranium, to 
briug the brain to the sticking point, these matters 
occasioned me when there was no cheap Cottage 
Gardener to pioneer the way as now, and no kind 
friends to whom the young and inexperienced could 
refer for answers to what the greatly learned might 
term impertinent and silly questions. Do I envy 
you? No! I rejoice that you will enjoy many of the 
advantages that are to bo realised in “the good time 
coming.” But let me remind you, that as your privi¬ 
leges are enhanced, so your responsibilities are in 
creased; and that the excuses that availed for older 
gardeners, will not be deemed available in the case 
of the rising race. 
Still this matter may not be sufficiently clear 
to some of our friends, and to them we would pre¬ 
sent one or two proofs in the way of familiar illustra¬ 
tion. You have observed, at certain seasons of the \ 
year, that one morning the earth was moistened with i 
dew, every blade of grass drooping with the weight 
of its sparkling crystal drop ; but on the following 
morning there was not enough of moisture to damp 
the sole of a lady’s slipper. How is this ? Under¬ 
stand it thoroughly, and you have a key that will un¬ 
lock the true theory and practice of protecting plants. 
We shall merely advert to the prominent reason. In 
the first case the night was unclouded and clear ; an 
223 
unobstructed radiation of heat took place from the 
earth, which was thus rendered colder than the sur¬ 
rounding medium; and thus the moisture, suspended 
in the air in the shape of vapour, was condensed and 
deposited as dew. In the second case, the sky was 
overcast and cloudy, the earth was not greatly cooled, 
because the heat that was radiated from it was radi¬ 
ated back again by the overhanging clouds. Now, 
comparing great things with small, you will at once 
perceive how glass exposed, or with a covering lying 
close to it, is so much sooner cooled, than when the 
covering, though much slighter, is suspended at a 
lesser or greater distance from it, in such a manner 
that the air has no free entrance either at the ends or 
sides. 
Again, and not to enlarge, mark the difference as 
respects comfort enjoyed by these two gentlemen: one 
young, in the very pink of fashion, who would rate 
liis tailor and bootmaker, if his articles of clothing 
were a hair’s breadth too large for him to squeeze 
himself into them ; the other an elderly gentleman, 
who has abjured such folly, and only contends for 
room and ease. The young man runs the risk of being 
starved in winter, and scorched in summer. His 
elderly companion, independently of the ease he feels, 
escapes from both extremes, owing chielly to the air 
enclosed between his body and bis outer clothing. 
Now, we confess, we shall have written for no pur¬ 
pose, if our inexperienced friends, who will use mats, 
will prefer rolling them down upon the glass, instead 
of supporting them upon a frame, so as to keep the 
glass completely clear, and thus interpose a body of 
air as a non-conducting medium. Two men can 
whip off scores of such covers in a very short time, 
and without risk of breakage, unless from great care¬ 
lessness; and one man can pull them down and put 
them on again with more ease than one man can ma¬ 
nage with mats in the usual way. In all cases where 
practicable, and especially where there is only one 
man, posts and rails should be put up for the lower 
end of the cover to rest upon during the day, the 
other end resting upon the front wall plate of the 
pit or house. 
There is one objection to such covers, especially 
where there is only one man to put them on. As he 
is obliged to slide them, the paint will be apt to bo 
rubbed off; but this is easily obviated by tacking on 
laths to the sides of the sashes, and removing them 
when the covers may be dispensed with. 
Mats, from their thickness and porosity, when thus 
stretched and tacked to frames, would make capital 
protectors, were it not for the fact to which we have 
alluded-—namely, that the rains will pass through 
them in time. To obviate this, the mat might bo 
covered with waterproofed calico, but this would ren¬ 
der the covers more expensive. The same object may 
be cheaply attained by the following method, but it 
should be done in spring or summer, as then covers 
would be sooner lit for use :—Get some gas tar, which 
is cheap enough, heat it as much as to make it thin; 
set the cover up, reclining in a slanting position, 
daub its outside over as quickly as possible with the 
tar, using a large brush for this purpose, and then 
immediately throwing over it some line dry sand, or 
road-drift, or even dry sawdust, and you will possess 
a cover as valuable for repelling wet and cold as as¬ 
phalt-felt, much lighter, and considerably cheaper; 
and which you will bo able to turn to many purposes 
during the season. At a future time, we may advert 
to the making of such covers with straw, &c. 
It. Fish. 
