May 4. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
75 
front of his house with a mound of litter !—not he.” 
Banter and raillery will often accomplish what mere 
reasoning or argument will fail to effect; and, in an 
evil hour, our friend resolved to give the non-protecting 
mode a fair trial. Notes of comparative success were 
duly made; the weather, on the whole, was generally 
mild—all went on as well as could be; but,presto, a 
night or two of severe frost comes — the incipient 
bunches had become two or three inches in length, 
looking as plump and promising as could be; but in 
the morning they were as flaccid and woe begone as 
if they had been dosed with a virulent narcotic; aud 
though, at the eleventh hour, syringiugs with warm water, 
and rude coverings of the border were resorted to, not 
a fourth of the usual crop was obtained. The frost had 
penetrated to the roots; the relative and co-relative 
action between branches and roots, previously existing, 
was thus interrupted; the bunches, being the most 
tender aud the most important, were the first to feel it; 
long-continued, the Vine itself would have suffered, aud 
as it was, progress was properly arrested, by lowering 
the inside temperature until the balance was somewhat 
restored. The strong-growing Vines escaped almost 
without a sign of the frost affecting them, and our friend 
very properly came to the conclusion, that if he wished 
to do without protection, he must contrive to get his 
roots a foot or eighteen inches deeper, and thus run the 
; risk, if he obtained extra luxuriance, and immunity 
from the trouble of covering, to have his Vines less dis- 
| tinguished for fertility ; and, not unlikely, his Grapos 
less stored with saccharine matter. Of the two con¬ 
tingencies, our friend has resorted to the protecting 
process, and, 1 am almost sorry to add, that on one 
occasion, he so far forgot his usual characteristic bland¬ 
ness, that when extra luxuriance of foliage was descanted 
upon, he muttered something as to its being very beau¬ 
tiful, but then it could not he eaten. 
HARDY FRUITS. 
Seldom has there been such an appearance of plenty 
aud earliness combined as during the present season. 
Keen's Seedling Strawberry, on a south border, has been 
as lull in blossom the 20th of April as we have had 
them at a similar period in May. The splendid weather 
in March and April has brought other fruits forward 
proportionately early. Gooseberries have been picked 
for tarts the 24th of April, and might have been done j 
so earlier. Old stagers did not in all this see much 
cause for rejoicing. They dreaded having March | 
weather in May, and it has come sooner than they j 
expected. The gardens where things are latest will 
generally lie the most fortunate. A sudden change of 
temperature, from 4H° and 50°, to 30 u and 20°, is no 
trifling matter for fruits in bloom and just set. A few , 
of our Gooseberries were done for on Sunday morning. I 
Strawberries had the centre of their bloom blackened on j 
Monday morning, and more would have followed in their 
wake in the colder morning of Tuesday, if means had not 
been taken to prevent it. Complaints have reached us 
of Teaches being blackened, notwithstanding the pro¬ 
fusion of foliage; and Gooseberries and Currants 
destroyed, notwithstanding their leafy canopy ; and 
in some cases the inquiry is made what could be done, | 
and what could have been done. Nothing can 
bring back what is gone. Jf every thing possible 
in the circumstances was done to prevent a failure, j 
then there is no reason for repining. If these were 
neglected, then, when fino weather comes, I know, 
by experience, that every deficiency in produce will 
stare us in the face, and the language of rebuke they 
will utter will be direct and unmistakeable. With the 
greatest attention, the most diligent and careful will 
often be overtaken, and often there will be an “if they 
had done so-and-so,” to prey upon their minds; but it is 
true policy to guard against these self-inflictions as 
much as possible. I can easily imagine that the cold 
would be felt in many places worse than here, as we 
not only stand high, but that elevation deprived us of j 
the heavy rains that on Friday and Saturday next to 
flooded some of the vallies. The drizzling dropping we 1 
received, and which I rather grumbled at, has saved us I 
from the increased cold likely to be produced by a rapid 
evaporation. Still, even here many things shewed signs 
of suffering. In such sudden emergencies, who does j 
not wish that he could ransack a canvass or a mat depot. 
Gardeners, in general, must be provided with simpler 
and less costly agencies. Walls likely to catch the sun’s 
rays early were previously thawed with a sprinkling of 
cold water, and Gooseberries and Currants had a similar 
dose. This is always useful when the frost is not i 
intense; when the fruit is frozen through, or the embryo j 
is fairly chilled, it is seldom of much consequence. By j 
a provision of nature, cold often causes the petals to I 
collapse, and thus so far protect the parts of fructification. | 
This is still further accomplished, when, as in the Cherry | 
and the Plum, the blossom is whitish in colour, as this j 
lessens the radiation of heat. Then, as the night 
threatens to be equally cold, and the wind direct north, 
Morelia Cherries, &c., on that aspect, and dwarf Pear- 
trees, &c., were protected with Laurel and Spruce 
branches. Rows of Strawberries, and quarters of Goose¬ 
berries and Currants, had a sprinkling of light litter 
shaken thinly all over them. Many beyond, or escaping 
the influence of the litter, are yellow and black; those 
beneath it are all right as yet. Brocoli had a small 
handful stuck into each; and forward Cauliflower had a 
slight sprinkling all over. “ What a littery concern it 
makes.” Aye, true, if you can provide bunting and 
canvass, so much the better. If you cannot, or care 
not, the litter would he all gone before the bright days 
of summer and autumn; and then, if successful, there 
will certainly be a difference between a poor and an 
abundant supply. 
AZALEAS SHEDDING THEIR BUDS. 
“ These are the very plants you eulogised last season ; 
what can be the matter with them? I have watered 
them myself every day.” So much the more pity ! the 
drop, drizzling water system has done for one, and pretty 
well killed the other. Strike the lower part of the pot 
firmly with your knuckles. Why it emits a sound like j 
a cracked bell. Just so ; if it was wot it would emit a i 
dull, dead sound. Turn out the plant past all redemp- | 
tion. It is damp for two inches from the surface, 
beyond that the roots appear to have been dried at a kitchen 
grate. The one less injured is almost as bad. Set the 
pot for a couple of hour* in a tub of milk-warm water, 
and then let it drain before placing it on your stage. 
Even this may not save your buds, but if anything will, 
it will save your plant. Whenever you are led from the 
above experiment, or feeling the weight of a pot, to 
decide that it is dry internally, the dipping mode is a ; 
capital plan. Another test is the rapidity with which 
water sinks. If after being poured from the water- 
can it stands long on the surface of the soil, you may 
safely apply to the dip-in-the-tub antidote. Hence, 
after a period of great drought, the farmer and the 
gardener bail with gratitude a lew genial, gentle 
showers, before the drenching rain ol a thunder¬ 
storm, as, when the latter comes at once on a dry 
surface, much of it, instead of sinking into the earth, 
finds its way to the nearest ditch, rivulet, or valley. 
The Azaleas referred to remind us of the royal law for 
watering plants in pots—-namely, water sufficiently to 
reach every fibre of roots, and theii stay your hand 
until the plant wants another thorough refreshing. 
UNIQUE GERANIUM, NOT FLOWERING. 
“ I cut this down similar to another Geranium, potted 
