: 420 
one more. But there is another point.—There is no 
I drawing here; at least, it' common sense be applied in 
J the affair. 
If any one will place himself behind two distinct 
specimen pieces, on a sunny and airy day, the one 
distinct and open-meshed, and the other close, ill- 
twisted, and confused, he will soon perceive the dif¬ 
ference in the interior areas; the one lively, and ad¬ 
mitting a real sunshine at intervals; the other of a 
dormant a.nd dull character, damp, stagnant, and chilly. 
And tliis applies to all coverings of whatever kind; 
they ought to be permeable (at somewhat regular in¬ 
tervals) by the sun's rays, and by a circulation of air. 
If the light admitted is tiickering in character, so much 
the better, and almost any material not too closely 
fastened will produce this; even canvass, although 
i fastened on poles, by its tindulatory motion during 
; wind, produces a tiickering or shifting light. 
I Most of the preceding remarks are applicable, in the 
main, to walls or other fences. 1 must add a few ob¬ 
servations on other coverings. Where there are per¬ 
pendicular trellises, care should be taken to place a 
good covering on the top rail. Spruce fir branches, 
hung sloping outwards and downwards, to throw otl'tlie 
rain, would tie very good. And why not have-moveable 
cojiings to these trellises ? Surely, if it is worth the 
expense to have such trellises, it is worth a few shil¬ 
lings more to carry out the objects for which they were 
made. Such might be a naked rod above the trellis, 
w'ith a coping something in the form of a common 
water-spout ou the eaves of buildings, but placed iu- 
vertedly on this rod; it should project nine inches on 
either side 
This, with fir boughs stuck in sideways the height of 
the trellis, and remaining there day and night until the 
blossom is set, w'onld, 1 am of opinion, be found excel¬ 
lent. Where such trellises run east and west, the 
boughs might be tolerably thick ou the north side, and 
thin on the south; and where they run north and south, 
the thickest on the east side. Placed so as to admit a 
liberal amount of the sun’s rays, 1 have no doubt they 
will ])rove of much value, and, when done with in May, 
will be excellent fire-wood. There are hundreds of 
places in the country where such plantation thinnings 
are given away, the owners never thinking of putting 
them to any use. 
Table trellises, too; those who desire to go a-head, and 
fear not a little outlay, might be covered easily nightly 
with canvass on a roller, the latter working in grooves on 
an iron railway suspended above the table. A stroke or 
two with the hand at night would soon discharge the 
roller along the rail, and it wmuld be as easily returned 
the following morning. I proposed, if I remember 
right, a plan of this kind some sixteen years ago, in 
“Loudon's Magazine;” and had I jiossessed sufficient 
capital at the time, I would have taken a few acres of 
good pear soil, in some central district, and laid it all 
down in table trellises on this princi])le. The tables 
should have been in parallel lines, with only a yard or 
so between them, so that a square of this kind would 
have been like a little town with parallel streets; and 
the only thing requisite to complete the establishment 
would be an outer wall some fifteen feet in height, taking 
care that this became a source of high profit, as well as 
protection. 
Ordinary espaliers, also; why not some attempts to 
ward ott’ our awkward and ill-timed spring frosts, which 
surely no man would desire to see encrusting his April 
blossoms. Here, again, the spruce branches are of much 
use; at least, so I have found them, provided they arc 
stuck in judiciously, not too thickly, and a portion of 
them made to rise above the blossoming portions, in 
order to ward off perpendicular frosts; in addition, too, 
huge boughs, if at hand, to ward olf cutting winds. The 
March 3. 
fronds of the common fern, as is well known, are very 
good things, but the spruce is better, as applied with 
less labour, and possessing the desirable quality of shed¬ 
ding its foliage progressively as the season advances. 
Fixed protections, of course, do not present the advan¬ 
tages of tliose wliich are moveable, as canvass, bunting, i 
&c.; for we cannot expect that the ordinary gardener ! 
can—with his multifarions spring labours—be daily ; 
removing branches for the sake of the sun’s rays, j 
Therefore it is plain that it is the best policy to take ! 
care that the branches used for protection be not so 
close as fairly to obstruct the rays; but that rather an 
extra allowance surmount the fruit-bearing portions of 
the tree; for, after all, the greatest damage will ensue, 
as before observed, in a perpendicular direction. And 
now, lot us advise tliose wdio possess moveable cover¬ 
ings to be attentive in uncovering their trees to ordinaiy 
weather, such as is termed very cold ; merely covering 
against frosts and cutting winds; in other words, be¬ 
ware of the evil termed “ drawing,” before explained. 
Nevertheless, as soon as the real blossom begins to 
unfold, by all means let the covering down every even¬ 
ing, and, indeed, use the same caution as a market- 
gardener does over his early Radish-beds—daily atten¬ 
tion to putting them to bed warm, as it is termed, or, in 
other words, coveriug-up whilst the sun is yet shining. 
This spring will require extra caution, and one point 
amongst the rest is, that early and attentive hand-pick¬ 
ing will be advisable the moment the setting is accom¬ 
plished. “ There are no gains without pains.” 
Robert Errington. 
MEETING OF THE LONDON HORTICULTURAL 
SOCIETY.— February ISth, 1853. 
The weather-glasses and thermometers show'ed this 
to be the coldest day experienced round London this 
winter; and, under glass, all sorts of plants are said to 
be soft and tender, and therefore more liable to be 
pinched with cold frosty winds than usual. This is a 
conclusive reason why the exhibition tables were not 
loaded to-day as we have had them hitherto all the 
winter. The company, too, w'ere not nearly so numerous 
as at the last few meetings, but there w'as a greater 
portion of ladies, and the lecture was as long as usual, 
and as interesting, without any appearance of “ spin¬ 
ning” against time ; so that we all passed a very agree¬ 
able hour. 
The next meeting of the Society will be on the 1st of 
March, and the time of meeting 3 p.m. On the follow¬ 
ing day, the 2nd of March, there will be a very inte¬ 
resting exhibition at the garden of the Society ; Mr. 
McGlashen, of Edinburgh, who has invented a machine 
for transplanting trees and shrubs, is to show ofl’ the 
wonderful appetite of this new gardener; and all the 
members of the Society (between 400U and 5000) may j 
go there free of admission fees, and I think they may 
introduce their friends also. ! 
The two lions of the meeting were perfectly new and . 
very handsome winter-flowering plants, sent by Mr. 
Glendinning— Boi/iera umcena and Oeissomeria auran- \ 
tiaca. This last has the luuidsomest leaves of all the I 
Acauthads, tlie order to which it belongs. They put j 
you in mind of the beautiful leaves of Barringtonia I 
upeciosd, or some very healthy, young, and full-sized i 
leaves of Magnolia grandijlora : and tlie flowers come ' 
at the top exactly as in Aphelandm, and very much in i 
that way. Without looking at the private mark, no one 
could tell it from a handsome Aphelandra ; and by all ' 
accounts, and also from the look of the plant, it will i 
require tlie very same kind of treatment as Aphelandra I 
erhiata. It seems, likewise, to be as easy to manage. | 
I All the liogierae are very showy plants, and this | 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
