38 TOWN AND WINDOW GARDENING 



Except in extreme cases, when a particular soil is wanted 

 for particular plants, I do not recommend this plan, 

 especially now that the railway authorities are so strict 

 about the weight of luggage ; and besides this, plants 

 often enjoy a change of soil ; it does them good. 



It is a good plan personally to superintend the first 

 filling of the box. To cast the mould into it and shake 

 it down, as if we were filling a pudding-basin, would 

 never do. Drainage is necessary, so we must fill the 

 bottom of the box with crocks. Old flower-pots broken 

 up do excellently, but must be perfectly clean, and a few 

 lumps of charcoal are useful to keep all sweet. Then we 

 can lay the mould in with a clear conscience. 



To those who would like to economize by using the 

 mould from their own little back-yards, if they have any, 

 I would emphatically say " Don't ! " It is sure to be poor 

 stuff, and full of soot and other undesirable things. Soot, 

 by the way, is a capital stimulant ; if kept some time till 

 it has lost its first crudeness, and mixed with water till the 

 liquid is about the colour of beer, here is an excellent 

 tonic which will invigorate many weakly plants. But 

 no plants like to live on physic, any more than we do. 



Now for the flowers, or, if winter is coming on, the 

 shrubs. Small Conifers do very well in winter-boxes, or 

 Golden Privet, or Acuba, or tiny Box-trees. There is the 

 widest range. Suppose we choose a set of the prettiest 

 shrubs we can get, and plant between them and in front 

 of them hardy bulbs, with a sprinkling of small-leafed 

 Ivy to hang over the edge of the box. This will give us 

 something pretty to look at throughout the winter and 

 the early spring. We must water carefully, as required, 

 and keep all foliage quite clean. There are hundreds or 

 other schemes. The difficulty is to choose between them. 

 It is a capital plan to take in a gardening paper. Many 

 excellent journals can be had for one penny weekly, and 

 any of their editors, when written to, are ready to give 



