234 



TJie Country Gaitlcman's Magazine 



%kt Cotintrp #entktocman. 



THE DECORATION OF WINDOWS IN SUMMER. 



THE decoration of windows in summer 

 is a branch of gardening thai demands 

 from us more than a mere fleeting notice. In 

 these days it has become as much a necessity, 

 judging from what we see of it, as the various 

 varieties of ground gardening. There does 

 not seem to be a single place of resort where 

 the public flock to, on their visits suburban- 

 wards, but flowering plants and plants that are 

 remarkable for their foliage are used either in 

 greater or less quantity. We were much 

 struck at the fertility of resources called into 

 play to make the effect dazzling or attractive. 

 It seemed to us, as we drove along one of the 

 favourite suburbs of London, that it was a 

 continued system of roadside gardening. 

 Window after window was dressed and 

 draped with flower and foliage finery, and 

 even the tops of the verandahs were miniature 

 conservatories ; and nothing in conservatory 

 arrangement could be finer than some of these 

 examples were. How pleasing to see the 

 public mind diverted in this way, and how 

 delightful a theme to discourse upon with a 

 fellow-traveller ! All these things— these les- 

 sons — go to make mankind purer, happier, 

 better. Would that such a taste, displayed 

 in this way, were more general ! 



We have been struck with the remarkable 

 distinction that exists between those living on 

 the north side from those living on the south 

 side of the Tweed. In Scotland, the few 

 cultivate a taste for gardening; the masses, as 

 a rule, have not learned to love flowers so 

 devotedly as to make them companions of 

 their homes, at least, to any great extent. 

 They may have a few of diverse kinds in their 

 flower borders, but they have not made win- 

 dow gardening a study in the way their 

 . English brethren have done. We never saw 

 t so perfectly managed, so masterly in its 



details, as in and about London, on the east 

 side as well as on the west side, on the north 

 side as well as on the south side. 



We must encourage the small doings 

 of the cottager as well as the larger 

 doings of the villa owner or occupier; 

 and to the credit of the English cottager, 

 be it said, there is a cleanliness dis- 

 played in the interior of humble dwellings 

 that might put many to the blush. As a fill- 

 up to that desirable state of things, we find 

 not only an embroidery of suitable climbers, 

 but flowering plants arranged on the window- 

 sill, and generally so smartly kept in order 

 that no dead leaf or dead flower appears. 

 Everything is attended to in order, and the 

 impression conveyed is that the English cot- 

 tager, as well as his more wealthy villa owner 

 or occupier, lays down as a basis tlie well- 

 worn axiom, that "cleanliness is next to 

 godliness," and that a selection of these 

 beautiful objects of Nature is needed to shew 

 that the " homes of England " look happy 

 and comfortable. And why should not the 

 golden stars that in Earth's firmanent shine 

 be selected to shew our appreciation of the 

 good and beautiful things that a bountiful 

 Creator has furnished for us to admire, to 

 look into, and to become acquainted with ? 

 W^e only wish that more would join in becom- 

 ing acquainted with them ; and that instead 

 of the few, as we see it north of the Tweed, 

 there should be the many that club together 

 to rejoice in the fostering of so simple and in- 

 structive an art as gardening. 



We need not enlarge upon the cultivation 

 of flowers as a means of drawing out these 

 finer feelings innate to mankind. Enough to 

 shew that a taste for the art is growing, and 

 growing, too, imperceptibly so far as regards 

 individuals, but, nevertheless, working its 



