PLANTING 



93 



many seedlings, especially if one likes to exchange, or to share 

 with neighbors who have not been so forehanded. Here it is 

 that an older person often has it in his power to turn, by a 

 chance word, the current of thought of his young friends in 

 one direction or another, by stimulating what is called idle 

 curiosity so that it develops into a true scientific spirit. 



Much of the technic of planting can really be learned 

 indoors ; the principles will then need to be applied on a 

 larger scale to the conditions outside. Even the simplest 

 window boxes call for well-prepared soil and for a knowledge 

 of how to put in seeds and how to water them. In these the 

 question of drainage is something of a puzzle. To arrange this 

 indoors naturally requires special contrivances. It is usually 

 secured by simply making a few holes in the bottom of the 

 box or can. These holes are covered with flat stones, so that 

 the earth will not sift out, and the entire bottom is then 

 spread with a layer of pebbles, earthenware fragments, and 

 bits of charcoal before filling the box with earth. Cigar boxes, 

 strawberry boxes, and the like will obligingly leak enough to 

 drain properly. 



Growing under glass is a fascinating occupation. In these 

 days some knowledge of the methods now employed is part 

 of the equipment of every gardener. Within fifteen miles of 

 Boston, for example, the enormous space of more than two 

 million square feet of glass, or over forty acres, is devoted 

 solely to vegetables. It pays at the not insignificant rate of 

 fifty cents per year for every square foot. 



Culture under glass aims to copy nature at her best, so it 

 will be arranged that the frame shall bask in full south sun- 

 shine and be protected on its north side. The very simplest 

 form of growing under glass is the cold frame. Just a single 

 large pane fitted into the top of a box, which is to act as a 

 temporary protection for a few plants, will do as a beginning. 



