4 MY HANDKERCHIEF GARDEN. 



or less degree by every lamp that burns in our houses. 

 The real moral is — ventilate your rooms. 



To secure the union of the three facts, heatj light, 

 and moisture, and bring them to our lettuce seed, we 

 procured a six-inch flower-pot, worth, perhaps, ten 

 cents at retail. By dint of digging in the garden I 

 managed to get a few lumps of half frozen soil, and 

 put them to dry on the floor by the fire. In a few 

 hours the soil was soft enough to break up into dry 

 mould in the hand, and I filled the pot nearly full, 

 scattered the lettuce seed on top, sifted more soil 

 over it through the fingers, and gently pressed it 

 down firm. A sprinkle of water shaken over the soil 

 by hand, wet the seed, and then the pot was placed 

 in a warm corner behind the stove, and covered with 

 an old newspaper. Two factors were thus provided, 

 heat and moisture. The third could be added after- 

 wards, as soon as the seeds began to stir with young 

 life. For three days the flower-pot garden was 

 examined night and morning, and, if the soil was dry, 

 a little more water was added. On the fourth day 

 the surface was broken by tender young things just 

 poking their green fingers up to reach the light and 

 air. The pot was at once placed in the window, and 

 there it stayed about six weeks, and was then com- 

 pletely filled with young lettuce plants about three 

 inches high, and hanging over the sides of the pot in 

 a luxuriant, pale-green mass. So it was my handker- 

 chief garden began in my study window. 



.^^'4. 

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