WINDOW GARDENING. 



WINDOW GARDENING. 



Few sentiments are so widely diffused, or retain their hold so permanently on the 

 human mind, as the love of flowers. The Indian in his native wilds ; the denizens 

 of the most civilized community; flaxen-haired childhood, and grey-headed old 

 age : the rich man who rolls by in purple and fine linen, and the peasant, whose 

 unremitting toil scarcely procures him the necessaries of life, alike share this 

 passion for these fair but frail creations of Nature's all-bounteous Lord. 



"When circumstances preclude the gratification of this taste in open air culture 

 on a more or less extended scale, the difficulty is met by an increased attachment 

 to the few half-stifled plants for which space can be found upon the window-sill. 



So healthy a sentiment deserves every possible encouragement ; and we gladly, 

 therefore, devote a page or two of the present number to a brief explanation of 

 the principles upon which the cultivation of window-plants should be conducted. 

 We have, however, nothing new to offer under this head ; for these principles have 

 been repeatedly explained in the gardening literature of the day ; but to those who 

 may not be already familiar with the subject, our remarks will probably be useful. 



And in commencing, our remarks, we would observe that, in the majority 

 of instances, window gardening is indeed floriculture pursued ' under difficulties ;' 

 and where these are successfully met, we are inclined to think that our Horti- 

 cultural Societies would do well to stimulate to further efforts by awarding an 

 occasional prize to window-grown plants. 



In the greenhouse, plants are, it is true, placed in a similar artificial condition, by 

 having their roots cramped in pots ; but they have, at least, the advantage of an 

 abundance of perpendicular light, and enjoy an atmospheric medium, in which it is 

 easy to preserve a due proportion of the moisture so essential to a healthy vege- 

 tation. In an apartment, on the contrary, the light usually enters only in a 

 lateral direction ; and from the dryness and dustiness of the air of most rooms, it is 

 often impossible for the leaves of a plant to perform properly, for any length of 

 time, their important functions. 



Another difficulty, especially^ the winter and spring seasons, arises from the 

 impure products of combustion, resulting from the use of open fires. In addition to 

 the carbonic acid gas thus generated, and which, so far from being injurious to 

 vegetation, is indispensably necessary to its existence, other gases are produced 

 which are exceedingly inimical to plants, the most deleterious being the 

 sulphuretted hydrogen, arising from the decomposition of the pyrites, or sulphuret 

 of iron, from which few coals are free. It is chiefly owing to the existence of this 

 and other prejudicial agents in the atmosphere of an apartment, that fresh air is so 



