PLANTS IN WINDOWS 177 



very cheaply by the scholars. The dimensions of the window 

 sill should be taken and a local timber merchant asked to supply 

 half-inch deal boards, nine inches in width and of a length rather 

 less than that of the sill. These can then be nailed together to 

 form a box and painted. The best colour is green, though for 

 trailing plants, such as Ivy Geranium, white looks very well, pro- 

 vided the box is freshly painted each year. Probably a brace 

 and bit can be borrowed for the purpose of boring the drainage 

 holes in the bottom of the box. In a box two feet long by nine 

 inches wide, eight or ten such holes, half an inch in diameter, 

 should be bored irregularly, so as not to produce a tendency to 

 split. In the bottom of the box place a layer of broken flower 

 pot, or failing these, any pieces of broken brick, or even stone. 

 Over this layer sprinkle a thin coating of dead leaves, or of broken 

 turf, so as to prevent the soil from getting down amongst the 

 drainage pieces. The best soil available should then be filled 

 in, to within an inch of the top, and gently pressed down. Good 

 garden soil should be used, and this may with advantage be 

 mixed with a little clean white sand, in the proportion of about 

 three spadefuls of garden soil to one spadeful of sand rather 

 more sand for bulbs and less for other flowers. If well rotted 

 turf can be had a little of this mixed with the soil will help. It 

 is important to secure good open soil for the window box, because 

 the sides of the window box are practically non-porous to air 

 and water, and therefore if a heavy soil were used the roots would 

 not be able to obtain their proper supply of air. For systematic 

 window gardening we require at least two boxes for each sill, 

 one for spring and the other for summer plants. The spring 

 window box is prepared in the autumn, and for the purpose we 

 rely mainly on bulbs. In it plant bulbs of Narcissus, such as 

 Narcissus poeticus and Barrii conspicuusJ These in clumps of 

 three, the distance between the bulbs in a clump being about 

 one inch, and the distance between the clumps about three inches. 

 In the spaces between the clumps plant similarly other clumps 

 of Snowdrops, Anerriones, Scillas,* and yellow/ purple, and white 

 Crocuses. These bulbs will give a succession of bloom through 

 February, March, and April. 



For the summer box there is a "practically unlimited choice 



VOL. V. 12 



