The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1882-01-23

The Importance of providing shelter for
such half hardy plants as Winter spinach,
onions, Strawberries, etc., has been mention
ed before, and should have been applied be-
fore this time. In seasons when we have
plenty of snow during the entire Winter,
covering for such plants is hardly needed at
all, but such seasons are not common IN the
southeastern portion of New England; IN
this region it is much more common to have
the land more or less exposed, especially
late in the Winter, when the sun runs high
and the nights are cold. 1t is against such
frequent freezing and thawing that the shell
ter is wanted, and if it is only sufficient to
shade the ground from the sun and prevent
frequent thawing, it is better than heavy
covering, which is apt to smother the plants
during thaw.
There is another sort of covering to be
used in Spring on the hot beds-I mean of
course, the mats and shutters used to shell
ter the glass in frosty weather. These mats
and shutters are usually made on the farm
during the cold and stormy days of Winter.
The mats are made of rye straw, the coarser
and larger the better; and the grain should
be well threshed out, so as not to attract rats
or mice to make their nests in the mats when
slowed away in Summer. There are two
sorts of frame used in making mats, one is q
rectangular frame of 2x4 inch spruce, . feet
four inches square in the clear, placed on
legs so as to be about q feet from the floor,
and across this are tightly drawn as many
strings of MARINE as are to be used IN tying
the mat; usually eight or nine strings are
used. One side of this frame is made NOV
able, and is secured in its place by stout
hard wood pins at each end; this movable
side is where work begins in tying the mat;
the straw is laid on in a small, clean hand
full, and tied down tightly by giving the
loose end of the marline or spun yarn half
hitch around the tight string which is made
fast to the frame; when the mat has been
tied for about two feet from the edge, the
movable side of the frame is moved forward
and secured in its new position by pins,
while the portion of mat already made is al
lowed to drop over its edge, allowing the
workman to reach over and tie about two
feet more of the mat. The edges of the
mats where the butts of the straw are irreg-
ular, are easily trimmed straight by placing
the mat upon the fioor-with straight edged
piece Of board over the edge to be trimmed,
and then chop off the irregular ends with a
Ratchet.
The other sort of frame used for tying the
mats, is shaped somewhat like a common
carpenters saw-horse; it is built higher,
| however, so as to bring the top about 81 feet
from the floor. The top is made of two
pieces of inch board placed an inch and a
| quarter apart, and between them the mat is
pushed downward as each handful of straw
is tied on top. In this. frame mat may be
made of any length desired, usually eight
| feet is about the limit
ANY one unaccustomed to the use of these
mats would be surprised to see how efficient
they are in protecting hot beds from frost;
when placed over the glass and covered with
shutters, it requires very hard frost with
inJ, ind 70 fraa fhrnuOh than Tho
shutters are made of inch pine matched
boards, feet inches long by p to 3 feet
wide, and secured by three cleats, one at
each end, and one across the middle, Sc
curely nailed with clinch nails. If kept well
painted they will last for many years. The
shutters are often used without glass as
Spring advances, to shelter plants on frosty
nights, throwing them off by day SO as to
expose the plants to the open air; this ena-
bles the gardener to use his glass and mats
on other beds containing more tender plants.
1t is customary to put the glass upon cold
frames containing dandelions and rhubarb,
about the middle or latter part of January,
covering at night with mats and shutters.
If the beds are well banked with eel grass,
or horse manure, they will not freeze
enough to injure these hardy plants, and the
growth once started, will progress rapidly as
the sun gets higher. When the rhubarb
leaves touch the glass. the frame is built up
by an additional plank or two placed on the
lower one and held on its edge in place by
means of pickets nailed on upon the outside.
The rhubarb will grow three feet long if the
glass is raised so as to give it room. 1t is
a very acceptable sauce in early Spring, be-
fore it can be pulled out of doors, and the
forced article is much more tender than
what grows out of doors.-W. d. Philbriek
in NJ r. Farmer,