I 280 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 12. 
] teen days. In such a long night as the latter period 
j there must he no extension of growth. As low a tempe- 
j rature within as the plants will stand without injury, 
is the first essential of safety, when we wish, from 
motives of economy or necessity, to keep half-hardy 
plants shut up night and day. 
In the case of hardier plants, such as Cauliflowerplants 
under hand-lights, whenever a frost of a week or so is ex¬ 
pected, and the days are too dull to give the plants any 
advantage from uncovering that would compensate for the 
labour, it is preferable to have the plants and ground 
slightly frozen before putting this night-cap in the shape of 
protection over them. The cold pits under my care have 
not been uncovered, now, for almost a fortnight Some of 
the tenderest had straw covers over them previously; 
others had a little dusting of rough hay shaken over the 
glass; and some had merely the protection of the glass. 
I ho weather, as respects cold, seemed threatening, and 
more protecting material was got in readiness. A fall of 
five inches of snow was hailed asatemporary respite from 
a regular attack on the little hay-rick we had saved from 
the first mowing of the least prominent parts of the 
lawn. The sun, on pits facing the south, when it did i 
shine, lessened the thickness of the snow, and on these j 
places, especially where it was likely to disappear al- 1 
together, a little hay was shaken on, or litter of any ! 
sort; but as to ease our trouble in this respect, it has 
happened, several times, that when we were thinking of 
doing this another slight fall of snow has come and 
thus saved us the trouble. 
Plants under frames, on a north border, such as the 
little bedding Calceolarias mentioned the other week, 
and which have not yet been touched, are all quite 
comfortable under their snow mantle. The sun, when it 
did shine, never touched the snow there. I find that 
these pits, owing to the heat stored up in their bottoms, 
&c., and with this mantle over them, which, while it 
lasts, prevents heat and cold easily penetrating, have a 
very equable temperature, ranging from 34° to 38°. 
Did I allow them to remain in such a darkened state, 
with a temperature 10° higher, I should expect to 
witness, at the end of a fortnight, a quantity of miser¬ 
able spectres, though, il this weather should last for a 
month, I feel confident that when uncovered then, the 
plants will look as nice as a field of Wheat, that for a 
similar time, and a similar agent, has been shrouded 
from the light of day. 11' the snow fell on the field of 
heat after the ground was crusted with frost, the 
farmer knows that many of the enemies of his favourite 
crop will be kept inactive, and that when the snow dis¬ 
appears his crop will look much the same as before it 
came. But if, as sometimes happens, a good fall of 
snow should take place when there has been no frost 
to affect the ground, though frosty weather afterwards 
causes the snow to remain, everyone knows, that when, 
after a gradual thaw, that snow has gone, the Wheat 
plant will be found to have grown, at least to have ex¬ 
tended in length, and if not exposed afterwards to 
sudden frosts when in this tender state, the farmer has 
reason to look upon such a snow fall as his best friend. 
Now, what in this latter case affects but a little in the 
way of injury such a hardy plant as the Wheat, even 
when long covered, would be apt to spread destruction 
among a pit of half-hardy bedding plants. Suppose, 
tor instance, that in an afternoon the enclosed atmo¬ 
sphere of such a pit should be 45°, the external heat 
38 or 40°, but that owing to the air being more rarified 
aud cold between us and the clouds, the moisture that 
otherwise would have reached us as rain descended in 
the shape of a heavy fall of snow, aud that on the 
score of economy we wished to secure that snow as a 
protecting agent, so long as the frost which it brought 
with it continued, then the true points of safety would 
bo to reduce the temperature within, by tilting the 
sashes a little behind, so as to take away every induce¬ 
ment to make the plants lengthen aud grow while thus 
excluded from light. 
The question of uncovering cold pits, by sweeping off 
the snow that envelopes them, so as to give them light, 
becomes thus a matter of expediency, economy, time of 
the year, and object aimed at. For instance, when in 
such places we wish to grow on plants as fast as we can, 
and the labour can be commanded, which, after all, is 
not much where there are only a few glass sashes alto¬ 
gether, then no safe opportunity of giving sunlight 
should be missed. Was it my object to keep merely as : 
great a number of small plants in as small a state as 1 
possible, so as to economise time, room, and labour— j 
then, during the months of November, December, and I 
the first part of January, I should be sorry to sweep off ! 
a good covering of snow under such supposed circum- \ 
stances of continued frost; because, in the first place, I 
I should quite despair of getting any frigidomo, in the j 
way ot a protector, equal to the snow, whatever price I I 
paid for it; and, secondly, because, in addition to know¬ 
ing that the plants were kept in the stationary circum¬ 
stances I wished them to be, I know that what sunlight 
they could get under such circumstances would not, in 
the way of advantage, counterbalance the labour of 
uncovering and covering, and the getting of the pro¬ 
tecting material in the stead of the snow. But suppose, 
now, that 1 wanted these tiny things to take a bit of a 
race in growth, so as to attain some size by April and May; 
and suppose, again, that we had a snow fall in March, 
and sunny days afterwards; I should not hesitate in 
cleariug away the snow to admit sunlight then, so as to 
induce and consolidate growth. Circumstances, then, 
must regulate our procedure. 
In all we have said above of half-hardy plants being 
safe under glass with a covering of snow, it must be 
understood that we moan the snow to be thick—from 
six to twelve inches—and the frost not very severe. 
When the snow was only one or two inches thick, and 
the frost was 10° to 20° below the freezing point, the 
sun, obeying the laws of radiation, would soon let the 
host penetrate, and plenty of other covering must be 
held in requisition, in addition to or without the snow. 
Two words more. If the frost should penetrate, never 
uncover until some time after a thaw has come; and, 
again, if long shut up, give the plants subdued, not full, 
light at first. R, Eish. 
THE WOODS AND FORESTS. 
( Continued, from page 231.) 
Thinning a Neglected Plantation.— This is not an 
easy task to do effectually without injuring the trees 
that are left. It requires considerable judgment and 
experience, or the trees will be so injured by a too 
sudden exposure to the cold air rushing through them 
as to be several years in recovering the effects of it. 
I have seen young slender Oaks completely killed by a 
too severe thinning. The best way, in such a case, 
to proceed, in my opinion (and I am borne out by i 
practice), is this— 
Supposing a plantation, no matter to what extent, ‘ 
has never been pruned or thinned till the trees have ’ 
grown so high and so thick that all the lower branches 
are dead, and the lowest of these have dropped to the 
ground; the very tops of the trees only have branches, j 
aud these touch each other; the poles of such a wood 
will be tall and slender, and, therefore, when one is 
fixed upon to stand, and all the others near it are cut 
down, this tree to be left for a noble timber tree will ! 
look something like a birch-broom stuck into the ground, 
the broom end upwards; this appearance the best 
woodsman in the world cannot remove; but he can I 
