WINDOW GARDENING. 



283 



will begin to penetrate the cotton or flannel, slowly sending down their delicate 

 white fibres to the bottom of the vessel, while the top will be covered with a 

 little thicket of green ; after the second day the vessel must be 

 kept in a warm tight place, and two or three times a week care- 

 fully replenished with water by means of a teaspoon, or syringe 

 inserted beneath the edge of the flannel. I 



A great advantage of such a miniature garden as this is that the 1 

 roots may be plainly seen growing through the grass. Water cress ] 

 has been grown this way, and a little story is related of a little 

 girl who kept her invalid mother supplied all winter long with 

 water cresses grown in this way upon wet flannel. 



Peas. — Common garden peas will make a lovely vine, although 

 sweet peas are much prettier, but either can be grown in water ; 

 fill a common tumbler with water ; tie over it a bit of coarse 

 lace, such as milliners use, and cover it with peas, pressing it down 

 into the water. Keep in a dark place for two or three days, 

 then give light and warmth. In a few days the roots will bevig. ai. Bracket 

 plainly seen piercing through the lace, and the vines can twine der gas jets"" 

 around the casements, or a bit of a hoop skirt spring can be fastened about 

 the tumbler, with springs attached to it in form of a globe, and the vines twined 

 about them. Keep the tumbler full of water, and 

 add bits of charcoal to keep it fresh ; every week turn 

 in two or three drops of aqua ammonia, less if the 

 tumbler is very small, but the deeper it is the bet- 

 ter for your vines. 



A Saucer Garden can be made with fresh moss, 

 well wetted ; in the centre place a pine cone filled 

 with earth and common grass or canary bird seeds, 

 and in a few days the tiny grass spears will ap- 

 pear, and soon you will have a verdurous cone of > 

 great beauty. Keep it secure from the frost, and 

 give water enough, and you will have a lovely orna- 

 ment. 



The devices for growing grasses can be extended 

 ad libitum, and none are so poor that they cannot 

 secure a tumbler or a saucer garden, which will 

 prove a delight and a joy to all beholders, while its 

 care will be of the slightest. 



If an acorn be suspended by a bit of thread tied 

 around it within half an inch of the surface of water Fig. 32. ciiandeiier Decorations. 

 contained in a small vase or tumbler, and allowed to remain undisturbed 

 for one or two weeks in a warm place, it will burst its shell and throw a root 

 into the water and shoot upwards, its straight and tapering stem covered with 



