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WINDOW GREEN-HOUSES, 



expenses, I should expect an acquittal from 

 the charge of extravagance even from those 

 who do not partake of the taste for these 

 things. And I am sure that the pleasure 

 and the profit have amply repaid my little 

 outlay ; for profitable it is. Anything that 

 decorates home, and concentrates a man's 

 amusements and attractions round his own 

 hearth, and unites the rest of his family 

 with him in them, is an avoidance of ex- 

 pense to him, and is worthy of encourage- 

 ment as a benefit to society. And among 

 these things, gardening, within legitimate 

 bounds, has always deservedly held a high 

 place. And in this I am sure " window 

 gardening" may fairly claim its little modi- 

 cum of praise, as being least liable to abuse; 

 unless, indeed, the bedroom be made, as I 

 have sometimes seen it, the depository of 

 plants, for then they are really injurious to 

 health. 



When my plants are on the stand, I do 

 not find they require looking to every day, 

 though even if they did, their wants are so 

 few, and so easily supplied, that it would 

 be but little trouble. 



1. Light is their greatest and invariable 

 requisite ; and this is the chief difficulty to 

 give them in a sash-window when there is 

 more than one row of them. A short and 

 simple rule will, however, lessen much of 

 the difficulty ; for they require light in -pro- 

 portion to the rapidity of their groivth. 

 Consequently the back rows, as having 

 least light, should be kept driest, in order 

 that they may grow slowest ; and when 

 they show a tendency to throw out too long 

 leaf-stalks they should be stinted in water 

 and placed nearer the window. Also, when 



hey bend forwards, it is a proof they are 

 having too much water in proportion to 

 heir distance from the glass. 



2. They want air, and therefore I gene- 

 rally open the window once a day, even in 

 the winter's frost ; but I do not think it so 

 necessary as is by many supposed. It 

 seems to be of more service in keeping the 

 temperature of the room equable than for 

 the admission of fresh air. When the wind 

 is in the east it almost always hurts them ; 

 and a thorough draught, of which many 

 persons are far too careless, is especially to 

 be eschewed. But I have seen a plant in 

 the window of a farmhouse, and of a very 



ordinary kind (Lord Mayor,) which, for 

 growth, number and perfection of blooms, 

 and striking general appearance, would 

 have deservedly attracted attention on a 

 field-day at Chiswick. Yet this plant had 

 never had a breath of fresh air for six 

 months. 



3. My impression about water is, that 

 professional florists are too much afraid of 

 it. If a plant is close to the window, the 

 rapid growth caused by superabundant wa- 

 ter is not always a loss, nor does it always 

 deteriorate the soil in the pot so much as is 

 supposed. In cottage windows plants often 

 thrive, grow stout, bloom profusely, and 

 with blooms in truest shape and colour, 

 though standing, and having stood, in sau- 

 cers of water for weeks or months. My 

 cuttings, if well rooted, I always set in pans 

 of water, even in the autumn, till they are 

 as large as I wish them to be before the 

 winter, taking care to place them in the 

 window itself while they are so treated. 

 Even the green moss on the mould and 

 round the pot, unsightly as it is, and be- 

 tokening slovenliness (and therefore I never 

 suffer it myself,) I fear is slandered when 

 said to kill the plant. At least, I have 

 seen a plant perform very well for years, 

 though covered with it. Don't be talked 

 out of your saucer of water, Mrs, Wilkins, 

 when they tell you you will drown your 

 Geranium, and that the air cannot circu- 

 late about the roots if you keep it so. There 

 is air in the water ; and you do not wash 

 away the goodness from the mould half so 

 much as by watering it from the top, and 

 letting the superfluous water run off and 

 carry the strength of the soil with it. Only 

 remember, you are "tendering" your plant, 

 and that it is more likely to be touched 

 with the frost or to grow "leggy." I be- 

 lieve I have gained by giving my plants 

 more water than my neighbors do. One 

 winter (it was a very mild one, and the 

 plants were growing slowly all through it) 

 I watered them freely with a rose over the 

 leaves, and never had them stronger or 

 healthier. From seeing its evil effects 

 elsewhere, I do not think I shall do so 

 again, but I am glad, for the experiment's 

 sake, I did it then, though I did it merely 

 in ignorance that it is dangerous, and not 

 for the purpose of experiment. 



