AND 



GARDEN GUIDE. 



WINDOW GAEDENING. 



BY JOHN E. MOLLISON. 



jVEEYONE delights in possessing a flower, from the poor 

 in the back lanes of the city, who treasure their one 

 little plant, struggling for existence in the poisoned 

 atmosphere, to the wealthy with their gardens and 

 plant-houses, stocked with all the rarest plants and 

 flowers that money can procure. 



The love of flowers arouses within us all the kindliest feelings of 

 our nature, humanises the heart, and fills the mind with pleasant ideas 

 and associations. Many a poor man has been saved from alluring 

 temptations that might have been his ruin, by his spare time being 

 taken up with his love for gardening ; the cultivation of his garden- 

 plot, and the tending of his flowers, proving far more attractive than 

 the company of idle companions, or the false pleasures of the beer- 

 shop. What a pleasant sight it is to see the cottager thus attending 

 to the beauty and comfort of his home. Truly the love of flowers 

 is one of the best agents of the temperance cause ; all friends of the 

 movement should ever make it their endeavour to arouse their 

 hearers to its importance and encourage the establishment of cot- 

 tagers' flower shows ; for the healthy rivalry engendered by them 

 works like a charm for the general benefit of the district in which 

 they are held. 



The lover of flowers though he only possesses one single plant, 

 enjoys a real pleasure in the care and attention he bestows upon it 

 — a pleasure which the very poorest may enjoy, even though shut 

 up in the heart of a large city. It is principally for those who live 

 in towns and large cities, who have no convenience for cultivating 

 flowers but their windows, that 1 write these pages. Therefore 1 

 will try to give as clear information on the cultivation of window 

 plants as I can, using the simplest language, so that I may be 



January. 1 



