Some plants require protection from the direct rays of the sun in
summer or from cold in winter, and there are many that need special
protection while they are quite small. Seedlings of many of the garden
crops are unable to force their way through the crust formed on the
soil after heavy rains, and it is necessary either to break the crust
with a steel rake or soften it by watering.
In parts of the country where the sunshine is extremely hot during a
part of the summer, some plants, especially those that are grown for
salad purposes, are benefited by shading. Shading is often used in the
care of small plants when they are first transplanted.
Where boards are available they can be used for protecting plants that
have been set in rows in the garden by placing them on the south side
of the row at an angle that will cast a shadow over the plants, and
holding them in place by short stakes driven in the ground. Laths,
wooden slats, cotton cloth, or shaded sash are frequently used to
protect plant beds from the heat of summer.
For protecting plants from cold in winter several kinds of materials
are used, such as boards, cloth, pine boughs, straw, manure, or leaves.
There are a number of crops of a tropical nature that may be grown far
north, provided they are properly protected during the winter.
Several of the annual crops can be matured much earlier in the spring
if they are planted in the autumn and protected during the winter.
Plants of this kind can often be protected by means of boards set at
an angle on the north side of the row instead of on the south. A mulch
of manure, straw, or leaves forms a good protection, but care should
be taken that the mulch does not contain seeds of any kind or serious
trouble will attend the further cultivation of the crop. Plants are
like animals in that they require air, and care should be exercised
in putting on the winter covering not to smother them. Coarse, loose
materials are better for a winter covering than fine, easily compacted
substances.--(F. B. 255.)