OS THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, May 18, 1858. 
many blossoms were blackened and destroyed, where 
no protection was used, there were plenty left un¬ 
opened and unhurt to secure a crop. 
The gardens here being very exposed, and standing 
on elevated ground, I have generally resorted to some 
' mode of protection, and in cold seasons have given 
that protection to Pears and Cherries as well as 
Peaches. So far as my observation and practice go, I 
j prefer, as the medium of protection, strong canvass, 
or calico, pulled up and down as desirable, easily and 
quickly ; and this I would use as first recommended, 
1 believe, by Mr. Errington, for retarding as well as 
protecting. Eorthe purpose of retarding, the coverings 
should be placed against the walls as soon as the 
j spring sun begins to swell the buds in the least, in 
i order that, by their shade, the wall may be kept cool in 
sunny days. For such retarding purpose, the blinds 
should be drawn aside at night, and in all dull cold 
days. The advantages of this retarding, are these:— 
The fruit-buds will open later, when we may expect 
better weather for them, and they will come stronger 
and more vigorous, owing to a more reciprocal action 
between the roots and the branches, as the soil will get 
i heated about as soon as the wall. In common cir¬ 
cumstances, there is a vast difference in a sunny day ; 
j the wall is hotter than a forcing house, while a few 
| inches below the surface the soil is little warmer than 
i an ice house. This contrast between the branches and 
the soil is generally so great, that when in full bloom, 
and the sun is very hot, the trees would often be 
greatly benefited by a net, or gauze veil, shading them 
from the great heat and light for a few hours in the 
middle of the day. With this exception, as soon as 
the llower-buds swell to the opening, the mere retard¬ 
ing must be lost sight of, and the same covering turned 
to the protecting and the forwarding of the crop, 
keeping them down at night and during inclement 
days, and removing them in all fine days. As, when 
drawn up, or down, they constitute no eyesore, they 
should not be finally removed until June ; as, even in 
that month, we have seen fruit nearly as large as small 
Walnuts blackened quite through by frost. 
For w T ant of such cloth, I have frequently used old 
hurdles, thatched thinly with straw, or stuck full with 
Spruce or Laurel boughs, for the purposes of retarding 
and protecting. This season, March brought the trees 
so suddenly forward, that, amid a variety of other 
matters, I altogether lost sight of retarding, and before 
the trees could be nailed, they were swelling and open¬ 
ing their blooms. 
Thin Spruce boughs, from which the foliage had 
mostly fallen, common netting and Nottingham lace 
netting w r ere suspended over the trees, for the double 
purpose of blunting the force of the sun’s rays, and 
preventing the free radiation of heat from the wall at 
night, to keep all right before hurdles, thatched with 
boughs, could be provided. Good Friday morning 
came, with its 8° below the freezing point, and almost 
every bloom that had no protection was blackened to 
the core. The afternoon brought a storm of hail and 
snow, and as the wind threatened to get to the north 
and the east, the trees were roughly covered before 
night with boughs and mats. The following morning 
was milder, but the one succeeding, and several others, 
were from 8° to 10° below the freezing point, and the 
blossoms exposed were so affected, that I incline to 
the opinion, that without any protection at all I should 
have had few young fruit to look at, instead of having 
them as thick as they can cluster along the shoots. 
The hurdles were not got a bit too soon, as a brisk 
wind made free with the Nottingham lace netting, 
which had previously done good service, and left 
nothing of it in sight but small pieces, where the tacks 
had been used. 
Of all retarding and protecting material, that 
is to be left against the wall without moving, until 
finally taken away, when all danger is over, I prefer 
this Nottingham netting—much the same as that ad¬ 
vertised as Haythorn’s Hexagon—as it is sufficiently 
thick to blunt the force of the sun’s rays, and also to 
resist from four to six or more degrees of frost, it 
the weather is at all dry and still. Poles had been 
placed to keep it from the wall, and along these 
poles (about their middle) a rod was fastened longi¬ 
tudinally, and against that rod the hurdles, with green 
boughs in them, were placed upright, enclosing a 
good space between them and the wall. These were 
on in bad weather, and taken off in fine weather ; and 
now though not removed, on this 10th of May, they 
have not been used for more than a fortnight. As 
already hinted at, the crop might have been secure in 
such a season without any trouble at all, and then I 
should not have been more fortunate than some of my 
neighbours. These are the circumstances that render 
it desirable, that a great variety of results and opinions 
should be presented to the gardening public, in some¬ 
thing of a tabular form. I will mention a few instances 
in illustration of this. 
The gardens at Luton IToo are not much different, 
as respects elevation and soil, from this place. The 
chief difference consists in its being much more shel¬ 
tered, by wood, in every direction. The greater com¬ 
fort and warmth, in cold weather, are easily perceptible 
by the senses. Mr. Fraser has used no retarding nor 
protecting medium for several years, and has had 
good crops. This season, though a great many blos¬ 
soms were injured about Good Friday, there were such 
abundance left that the fruit is now set very thick. 
Some years ago when protecting, owing to a particular 
party at the house, it was desirable, somewhere about 
the third week in May, to remove all the protecting 
mediums; and a night or two of sharp frost, shortly 
afterwards, did more harm than he imagined would 
have been done, if the trees had received no covering 
whatever. 
. Stock.wood . Park, near Luton, also stands upon a 
similar elevation, and is almost as well protected, ex¬ 
cept from the south and south-west. Large coping 
boards, of a temporary character, about fifteen inches 
wide, and with a dip so as to throw a good amount of 
rain past the trees, are used for the Peach and Apricot 
walls, but there has been no other protection given ; 
and though a good number of blossoms were injured, 
enough escaped to secure a thick setting of youim 
fruit. & J o 
. Kimpton Hoo kitchen garden, it will be recollected, 
is comparatively low, and near a small stream. Mr. 
Cox does not think he w r ould be safe without protec¬ 
tion : he uses chiefly the Nottingham lace-thread nefc- 
* i i i t en I saw him the other day, he 
told me, that the fruit was set thicker than ever he 
saw ; though, notwithstanding the shelter of the 
netting, many blossoms were destroyed about Good 
Tnday. 
Hexton House garden, it will be found on referring 
to the description of it, lies in a hollow, and water at 
no great distance. Mr. Watson uniformly protects ; he 
considers that, in most seasons, he would have no fruit, 
n lie did not do so. He generally protects all the best 
i turns likewise. This season, he says, the fruit on the 
Apricots, &c., is set like ropes of small onions, so thick 
are they. He uses no cloth, netting, or such other 
shelter : he also disapproves of Spruce branches ; the 
foliage comes so soon off, and there is a good deal of 
trouble in getting it out from the young and tender 
shoots. He uses Laurel branches, in rather small 
pieces, neatly put all over the trees ; the leaves do not 
tall, when they are dried and withered. Many would 
