4 THE SCHOOL GARDEN BOOK 



great deal more attractive than are the unsightly flower-pots 

 which are so commonly used for growing plants in-doors. 



Five things are required by a living plant — food, warmth, 

 moisture, light, and air: granted these, a plant should live 

 and thrive in almost any sort of situation. The proportions 

 in which different plants require these five essentials vary 

 decidedly, and in growing flowers in the house we must 

 understand the conditions required by the particular plant 



Window-box of Sheet Zinc. 



we are dealing with. In general, the necessary conditions 

 are most easily given by means of window-boxes, which may 

 be placed near the window that an abundance of light and 

 air may readily be obtained. And it is not at all necessary 

 that this window-box should be a crude, unsightly afiFair: 

 it should rather be a carefully made, attractive object, har- 

 monizing with the interior of the room and adding to its 

 general effect. It is worth while to go to some trouble and 

 expense in order that the receptacle for such a little garden 

 in-doors should be so attractive that it may always be used 

 with satisfaction. 



The most satisfactory window-boxes are made of sheet 

 zinc, and are of a length and width to fit the window-sill or 

 to rest upon brackets just beneath it, and of a height of four 

 or five inches. Under the ordinary conditions of a furnace 

 or steam heated home or school-room, plants will thri\e in 



