CARDEN 
SUGGESTIONS 
<3J?c/ 
QUERIES 
CONDUCTED BY F. F. ROCKWELL 
Guarding Against Frost 
NE of the first things to keep in mind 
in fighting frost is that if you can 
win out against the spring attacks, to a 
large extent you forestall the losses which 
might otherwise be caused by an early frost 
in the fall. Crops started early and suc¬ 
cessfully protected will have matured and 
be pretty well cleared up before the danger 
of the autumn invasion. It pays, there¬ 
fore, to take every precaution against the 
loss of tender and half-hardy vegetables — 
and flowers, too, for that matter — planted 
in the spring. 
The way in which frost acts is not gen¬ 
erally understood. The damage is done, 
not by freezing, but by thawing! In freez¬ 
ing the plant cells, which are composed 
very largely of water, are distended. If 
thawed out gradually, they are elastic 
enough to resume their normal size and 
condition without being ruptured: where¬ 
as, if they thaw out suddenly, they col¬ 
lapse ; in much the same way that you can 
expel the air from a blown-up paper bag 
slowly without breaking it, while a sudden 
blow will explode it. 
Plants vary greatly in their capacity for 
withstanding the effects of frost, and con¬ 
sequently are classified as hardy, half- 
hardy, and tender. The last are those to 
which even a light “touch” usually proves 
fatal. But in many cases even the tenderer 
things, such as tomatoes and beans, will 
withstand a freezing temperature without 
being lost. 
One of the most important things about 
frost protection is that the actual tempera¬ 
ture, or degree of freezing measured ther¬ 
mally, is only one factor in determining 
the injury that may be done. Other things 
influencing the effect a frost may have are : 
(i) Condition of growth or “hardiness” 
of the plant; (2) location and growing 
conditions; (3) the variety and strain; 
(4) the amount of moisture in the air, and 
wind and clouds; (5) and the moisture in 
the soil and in the plant. 
It is truly remarkable how a plant may 
be inured to low temperature, if it is done 
gradually. Hence the importance of the 
“hardening off” process in the frames, be¬ 
fore setting plants out in the garden. This 
is one of the methods of frost protection 
which should always be used, and should 
be considered as the most important. Lo¬ 
cation also makes a great difference. Shel¬ 
ter from north and west winds and a slope 
to the south or southeast are always de¬ 
sirable for extra early stuff. Even a slight 
variation in altitude may mean the differ¬ 
ence between the loss and the safety of a 
crop. Last fall, after a frost which we 
had on the 14th of September, the “frost 
line” was plainly discernible in my field 
of melons, which was planted on a fairly 
steep slope. The upper third of the patch 
was untouched, and the rest was limp and 
black as soon as the sun touched it. I 
have often seen the same thing in fields 
of squash and with corn. 
Every gardener of any experience 
knows that some varieties of peas, beans 
and sweet corn will stand more cold than 
others. In planting extra early sorts al¬ 
ways plan to select considerable variety. 
In deciding whether there is likely to be 
a frost during the night, which will injure 
vegetables or flowers, there are several 
conditions to'be taken into consideration. 
On cloudy and windy nights there is less 
likelihood of injury from frost because the 
soil is kept warm by both these conditions. 
The degree of moisture also is an import¬ 
ant factor. As soon as the dew begins to 
form, a certain amount of dew is “re¬ 
leased,” and this serves to check any fur¬ 
ther fall in the temperature. If dew be¬ 
gins to form when the temperature is 42 
degrees or higher, there is little danger of 
a killing frost. A very wet soil, on the 
other hand, means that frost is more likely, 
because under such conditions the radia¬ 
tion of heat from the soil is checked. 
The available means of protection from 
frost are several — and a number of them 
might be used much more widely than they 
rre. One of the least-known I mention 
first, because it is used comparatively little, 
although it is very effective and costs 
nothing where it can be used. I refer to 
protection by covering with soil. With the 
hilling attachment or of the wheelhoe or 
with the horse cultivator for field opera¬ 
tions, one can quickly cover such things 
as peas, dwarf beans and potatoes that are 
Under a blanket of ice the plants will be subjected to a bare freezing temperature, and if thawed gradually 
should suffer no harm 
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