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prices practically prohibitive so far as the 

 purse of the average person is concerned. 



PRACTICAL USES OF BOX GARDENS 



When cost is considered, however, there 

 should be some thought given to the usefulness 

 of the boxes. In a modest way such gardens 

 have a practical value. Not only do they add 

 beauty to a house and in this respect prove 

 their esthetic or ornamental value, but they 

 frequently serve as effective screens, as when, 

 on a porch without a railing, the boxes are used 

 as a substitute. Wherever they are so em- 

 ployed it is seldom that the owner feels willing- 

 to abandon them for the usual balustrade. 

 Again, when set before windows, they satis- 

 factorily obstruct the view from the outside, 

 though not materially interfering with the view 

 from within. It might be mentioned, too, that 

 by their use rooms may be rendered cooler in 

 the hot days of summer, for the foliage of the 

 plants will break the direct rays of the sun, 

 and the evaporation of the water applied to 

 the boxes will in some degree reduce the heat 

 of the atmosphere. 



There is still another practical value which 

 should not be overlooked. Persons who do not 



