4 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[April 3. 
easter, and a falling thermometer (already, it may be, in¬ 
dicating some 6° or 8° of frost), venturing to hang a mat 
over his tine Moorpark apricot in full bloom, at live o’clock 
in the evening, in the middle of March, merely to avert 
the rigours of the night. Rut so it is; and many persons 
who would not hesitate to clothe a Moutan Poeoney, or 
a choice Tea-scented Rose, yet stand horrified at the 
idea of taking the most simple means imaginable for 
dulling the edge of such a clumsy customer as a sharp 
spring frost, out of season and unexpected. It is not 
trouble, it is not expense, for a few spruce boughs will 
suffice. We, moreover, know many excellent practical 
men who repudiate the practice, and who would take 
double the trouble if they could once fairly satisfy them¬ 
selves as to the soundness of the practice. Now these are 
serious differences in the eye of the amateur, and no 
wonder. The pathway of science—improvement—call it 
what you will, has, however, always been beset with 
such, and will be, until the real position of the question 
is not only seen but felt. 
Now there is a collateral point of great import con¬ 
nected with this question. A point which has been but 
too often lost sight of “ amidst the clash of arms.” We 
mean the ripening of the wood. It may seem tiresome to 
many of the readers of this work, to hear perpetually this 
cuckoo cry. Could, however, the majority be brought 
to a thorough appreciation of this one point, the cry 
would cease ; there would be no further occasion for it. 
So great, we are assured, is its importance, that we can 
readily fancy Mr. A., a sound convert to this doctrine, 
sleeping soundly with a thermometer indicating some 
8° or 10° of frost, and neither spruce boughs, canvass, 
nor bunting in his garden; whilst Mr. B., a deep and 
rich borderman, with his trees invested in their night¬ 
caps, shall after all his pains have an inferior crop to 
Mr. A. What is the consequence? Mr. B. thinks he 
has been misled about this covering affair, and resolves 
to leave all to chance. 
As long, nevertheless, as this question is narrowed 
into what is termed protection to the blossom, it is shorn 
of half its importance. There is another bearing to it, 
and probably the most significant one, we mean retard¬ 
ation, or, in ordinary terms, delaying the blossoms. 
Divest the practice of this and the wood-ripening, and 
the whole becomes, indeed, not worth consideration. 
With regard to retarding, who will deny the untoward 
fate which sometimes befals some precocious pet in the 
plant way, which happens to be placed in some highly 
favoured corner, of immense benefit, to be sure, at other 
periods, as furnishing the requisite heat, but as far as 
concerns a late and unexpected spring frost, a complete 
trap ! 
It will be also remembered by most of our readers 
who are at all critical in such matters, that the majority 
of our hot-wall men, whether in print or in practice, 
fight shy of the idea of using their artificial heat too 
liberally at an early period. They fear being entrapped. 
How different the case, however, in September and 
October; here their caution diminishes, and they begin 
to talk of ripening the wood, and fires are laid on with 
little hesitation. Surely a due consideration of all these 
points in concert, must throw an amount of light on 
this hitherto ravelled affair, which no counter arguments 
can possibly obscure. Opinion is nothing here; facts , 
strung properly together, are everything. So strongly 
imbued are we with the weight of sucli arguments, irre¬ 
spective of mere practice, that we have this winter 
covered at least double the extent of subjects; comprising 
apricots, peaches, nectarines, pears, plums, cherries, 
gooseberries, currants, &c. No doubt some of our readers 
will consider the process expensive. It is by no means 
so with boughs, although, of course, a little labour is 
requisite. Where, however, materials do not come to 
hand readily, it may be so. We have abundance of 
spruce boughs close to our elbow, and, in addition, a 
little canvass for some of the more dainty kinds. We do 
not know that any material is more proper for covering 
than thin canvass, such as is manufactured by Mr. 
Nathaniel Hulme, of Paradise-green, Knutsford, with 
whom we have dealt for many years, and which he sells 
at about fivepence per square yard. He generally makes 
it in widths of three yards, which is enough for most 
walls, so that every lineal yard costs fifteenpence; but 
then this canvass will last well for seven years, if pro¬ 
perly preserved and a due care be exercised. Thus it 
will be seen, that the annual expense of protecting a 
lineal yard of walling is not more than twopence- 
halfpenny, exclusive of a few ordinary poles. We place 
a pole every six feet, running under the coping at top, 
and straddling away nearly two feet at bottom. At two 
feet above the ground level, an auger hole is bored in 
the pole, and an oaken peg driven in, the end left pro¬ 
jecting nine inches forward, and when the canvass is 
lowered in the day, it hangs in folds on this line of pegs, 
this keeps it from contact with the damp soil. 
Every pole has a ring dangling from a staple close to 
the top; and on the outer face a rope of sash-cording"is 
attached to the edge of the canvass opposite each ring ; 
this being passed through the ring from the under side, 
enables the operator to pull it up, or let it down, with 
ease. Thus, when the canvass is lowered, the wall is 
uncovered, and vice versa. Now these rings and cords 
will add to the expense; and since both are very durable, 
we may, perhaps, add another halfpenny per lineal yard 
to the amount, accounting the ropes to last nearly as 
long as the canvass. 
A still more complete plan is to hang the canvass like 
curtains, or after the manner of the covering to what are 
termed conservative walls ; and, doubtless, this ought 
neither to be thought too much trouble or too expensive. 
We cannot help thinking it a niggardly economy in any 
person to lay out some scores of pounds in building 
garden walls, and then to leave them at the mercy of all 
weathers for the lack of a few pounds more. Few, 
however, would do so, if they could be assured that 
the principle is good; and we shall certainly do all 
we can to place the question on a proper basis, and to 
lead our readers carefully to distinguish between the 
use and the abuse of this practice; as also to place the 
culture of hardy fruits on so sure a basis that walls 
may be worth covering. 
What is termed bunting is much used in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of London, and is for the most part nailed 
down on the walls, and, therefore, not capable of daily 
removal. Having had no experience in the use of this 
article, we cannot speak decisively about it; but we 
suspect that this or any other fixed covering, which pro¬ 
duces a faint and uniform shade, will never succeed so 
well as a moveable covering, or that which produces 
flickering rays, with now and then “ fields ” of light, as 
the spruce does when properly placed. 
Now it appears that next to a fair settlement of the 
question of covering or no covering, arises that of fixed 
or moveable coverings. Of course, the one must, on 
general principles, be better than the other ; exceptions 
there may be, but it is the principle or rule we have to 
deal with. The question, therefore, whether fixed cover¬ 
ing, or, in other words, shading, is right, has yet to be 
decided by the gardening public. For our parts, we 
have long since formed an opinion, based on practice, 
that flickering or shifting gleams of sunshine are of the 
utmost importance ; and that a fixed covering, producing 
the sort of pale glare, which a farthing rushlight will 
furnish, is not the thing for developing the resources of 
the awakening blossom bud, which, being in an inchoate 
condition, requires actual sunlight, at least at intervals, 
without an intervening medium. 
One of the principal charges, and one of a grave cha- 
