1956. Garden or bast mats are woven or matted from the bast (Russ.) or inner bark of trees, generally of the lime. They are manufactured in the inland parts of Russia and Sweden, and even in some parts of Monmouthshire, of different sizes. They are used, in gardening, for a great variety of purposes; for protecting wall-trees, by being hung before them, and removed in mild weather; for protecting espaliers and standards, by being thrown over them; for protecting more delicate shrubs, by being thrown over an envelope of hay or straw, in which way most American trees and standard roses are protected in the neighbourhood of St. Petersburgh; for protecting tender plants coming through the ground, by being spread on its surface, and such as are of a larger size, by being supported on hooped framing. They are used to cover hotbeds, hothouses, hand-glasses, and every sort of glass-case; to shelter plants from wind, shade them from the sun, &c.
