The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-02-22
Protection for semi.Hardy Plants.

Protection for Semi. Hardy Plants.
In giving protection to what are called
nardy or semi-hardy plants in winter,
we do not expect to prevent freezing,
for to do so would in most instances be
ruinous. But many persons seem to
imagine that if a little protection Is pro.
1uctive of good, more would be still
better, and they go to such extremes in
this matter that the plants are smoth.
cred, instead of being protected agains,
injury from cold. Strawberry plants
are usually greatly benefited by slight
protection in winter, but it should al
ways be light covering, just enough to
shade the leaves and prevent drying up
by winds sweeping over the surface Of
The ground. In Northern localities
where the ground is covered with snow
from November to April, no better pro
lection is required; but where there i:
little snow, and the weather is sc
changeable that the plants are frozen
one week and thawed out the next un.
der clear sky and warm sun, followed
by drying winds, they are pretty certain
10 be injured more or less unless pro-
tscted by a light covering of hay, straw,
Or some similar material.
In localities where grare vines are
tender, or likely to have the r frui! bud.
killed if the stems are left tied to stake.
Or trellises during the coolest weather,
it is seldom necessary to give any more
protection than to lay them down on
the ground where they VII be coverel
with snow and ice; it is the cold drying
| winds that iniure them. rather than tae
low temperature. When they are
trained on walls or fences, piece OF
cloth or mating will often prove to be
all that is necessary TO insure safety &c
both vine and fruit buds. The drying
winds kill more plants and trees than
low temperature, and in the moist eli
mate of the Pacific coast, ON Oregon
northward to Alaska, there a scores
of trees and shrubs that will not thrive
in the climate of our Middle States, not
in consequence of tie great heat of sum.
mer or the cold OF winter, but because
of the dryness of the air. The handsome
Lawson cyp ess and The Nootka Sound
cypress are frequently badly sco;ched
in winter, but if protected by sheet OF
paper or cotton cloth, or even shielded
from the wind by some other kind oi
evergreen tree, they will pass throu RI
our severest winters uninjured.
The American holly is found only
sparsely distributed as far north as the
lat tude of this cit, and here it clings
TO the coast in New jersey, Long Island,
and the north side of Long Island
Sound; but it will thrive much further
north when planted among other trees
that will afford protection from cold,
cutting winds in winter. We have one
tree twenty years old, planted in its
present petition some fifteen wears ago,
that has never had leaf injured in
winter, while two others of the same
age, and growing within one hundred
feet of the former, are scorched more OF
less ever winter. The first IS pro
tectcd from the north winds bv group
of arbor vita S. while the others are not,
and this is the only reason WIN that
one succeeds SO much better than the
other two.
The farmer alwa feel, that his win.
ter grain is safe rs long as it is covered
with 4 mantle o. snow: but when this
does not come. or it disappears from
his fields. and the winds sweep over
them, drying up the surface soil and
scorching the leaves of the young grain,
he knows from long experience that
there is danger, and it will increase
every day that such conditions exist.
Further south, where SHOWS seldom
come to protect fall-sown grain, it is
even more likely to be injured bs cool,
drying winds in winter than in colder
regions. Hence the necessity of top
dressing with some coarse mates: ial, and
protecting the fields with belts of trees
that will break the force of the winds.
1t is but little protection tEat plants
need under the artificial conditions in
which thev are placed In cultivation.
but that little is necessar, to insure full
develOpment.-N. Y. Sun.