PLANTS IN FROST AND DROUGHT
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In last week's Spectator the writer of the " Country Life " section, dealing with the effect of frost on plant life, states that " leaves are blackened not intrinsically by frost, but by drought." May I be allowed to state my experience ? For eleven years I lived in a house (Charlotte Bronte's " Moor House, Morton ") 900 feet above sea level and 400 feet above the somewhat contracted valley below through which a considerable river runs. It was a matter of regular -observation with us that, the valley was full of mist, often from the river level quite imperceptible, but clearly defined and rarely reaching us at the greater height.
The point is that in this valley, as I believe to be the case with all valleys, the air is more or less charged with moisture,
The early frosts of winter which completely blackened and killed the vegetation in the valley left us untouched. In particular, we had runner beans to gather in the garden often several weeks after all had been cut down in the valley below. This experience was confirmed in another way. My way to town, from a suburban residence, lay across a narrow valley causing a dip of twelve or fifteen feet, blocked by the houses on each side, of the road.
The geraniums and other plants in the forecourt gardens in this hollow were always killed by the frost days or weeks before those in the higher parts of the road. The explanation seems to be that vegetation in a damp atmosphere suffers from frost sooner than that in dry air.—I am, Sir, &c.,
ROBERT STVRING.
Brinkcliffe Tower, Sheffield.
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