THE BEGINNER 37 



The style and material for our window-box must 

 depend on circumstances — size, for instance, and the 

 style of the house. It may be rustic, severe, or plain, 

 and made either of wood, or tiles, or cork. All are good 

 in their way. Some modern builders arrange the stone- 

 work of the window-sills purposely to facilitate window- 

 gardening, and it is to be hoped this good fashion will be 

 continued and improved upon ; it is a great assistance. 

 There will often be an amateur carpenter who is quite 

 capable of building his window-box for himself. It is 

 nothing but a strong wooden case, in which holes must 

 be bored at the bottom ; the box once made, it is easy to 

 tack on pieces of virgin cork. This can be bought, 

 seven pounds for a shilling, and nothing looks neater. 

 Last spring I noticed all the window-boxes in a row of 

 small semi-detached suburban villas. The prettiest were 

 made of cork, and were filled with blood-red Tulips and 

 Wallflowers almost exactly the same shade, and lovely 

 they all looked among the Wallflower green. The next- 

 door boxes were made of upright lengths of bamboo, and 

 had a very stiff appearance ; they were filled with Tulips 

 only, packed very close together, and mostly yellow ; the 

 effect was anything but good. By good luck we chanced 

 to see the identical row of pretty small houses again in 

 early June, when our old admiration was furnished afresh 

 with summer flowers. The photograph we begged for, 

 and were kindly allowed to take, has become our frontis- 

 piece. 



Having settled about our box, the next point to be 

 considered is the mould to fill it. This we can buy 

 either by the load or sack. Good leaf mould can be had 

 for six shillings a load, or some get it by the sack, and 

 give two shillings for that. Under the box should be a 

 plate of zinc to prevent drips making the house damp. 

 I have known enthusiasts to bring mould from the 

 country to town places in boxes like ordinary luggage. 



