DOMESTIC GARDENING. 
(>:> 
kitchen boiler, and leading it to the place to 
be heated; this, if provided with the necessary 
valves and stops, would be at all times manage- 
able, and at all times efficient ; it might even 
be made conducive to ornament, if arranged 
so as to form a pillar, or fancy pedestal. 
As we make it our especial care to notice 
the internal fitness of these places for their de- 
signed objects, we may also claim to direct some 
attention to their external appearance. We are 
not disposed harshly to condemn, or to speak of 
_ the taste of any one in terras of disparagement, 
but we have seen structures of this kind, which, 
to our minds, have been, to say the least, ill 
adapted to fill the positions they occupy. A 
very common character borne by these bal- 
conies, whether covered in for the purposes 
we have already noticed or not, is that of some 
portion of a Chinese building, which has been 
severed from the rest, and patched on in 
front of a modern-looking mansion. Now, as 
building should not only be consistent in its 
parts, but also as a whole ; and if it is not 
thus consistent, it does not possess that har- 
mony of character and of effect, which con- 
stitutes the chief requisite of a building, to the 
eye. We have not space to enumerate in- 
stances of the bad taste we now refer to ; the 
above will serve to illustrate the necessity of 
rendering the outward appearance of a build- 
ing harmonious to the eye as a mass, as well as 
of rendering it internally commodious, and 
fitted for its intended use. As general rules 
for the formation of our covered balconies, we 
may remark, that if there be any style of archi- 
tecture evinced in the construction of the re- 
sidence to which it is to be attached, the same 
style should be observed duly in these appen- 
dages ; and again, if no particular style or 
manner is made evident, the same neutral 
character should also pervade even the smallest 
individual parts of the general design. 
An open balcony is all the convenience 
for cultivating plants which many persons can 
command. In such situations very much can- 
not be attained, and the wisest policy is, there- 
fore, not to attempt too much; yet even these 
may be made to minister some satisfaction to 
the eye. The class of plants which seem best 
adapted to this situation, are the hardy ever- 
green shrubs, which are now rather numerous, 
and may be made to grow with considerable 
success; they may thus be made to invest it with 
pleasing cheerfulness, at all times and seasons, 
even if not to adorn it with gaiety and gorgeous 
display. During the finer months of the year, 
there are many free-growing flowering plants, 
which will grow with considerable success, 
quite sufficient to justify any attempt which 
may be made to induce them to do so. They 
require, however, additional care in the winter 
season, and this is a point which must claim 
our attention as we proceed. The only thing 
we need mention in a structural point of 
view, and one which would materially aid in 
the growth of the plants, would be to have 
the balustrading either entirely closed up near 
the base, or so much so as to afford shad': and 
protection to the roots of the plants, which 
would be liable to injury by the sun penetrat- 
ing to them through the pots, ami too rapidly 
depriving the soil of its needful moisture. 
The window ledge will afford the means 
of bringing many plants to perfection, so far 
as situation is concerned. For such a position, 
however, the plants should be smaller, and 
altogether of a lighter character, than those 
which would be suitable for balconies — not 
only because the space is more circumscribed; 
but also, because being brought nearer to the 
eye, any degree of coarseness and imperfec- 
tion, either in the character or growth of the 
plant, would be much more readily detected. 
A very great improvement, so far as culti- 
vation is concerned, and one by no means 
common, is to have a facia board, or some 
such contrivance, in order to protect the pots 
and roots from the intense heat of the sun 
during summer; and from cutting and parch- 
ing winds at other seasons. 
We shall not specifically mention any other 
out-of-door situations available by the amateur 
for the growth of plants, as our province does 
not extend to the green-house, the pit, or the 
garden frame ; neither will it be at all neces- 
sary to our purpose to do so, as those already 
referred to will be sufficient to set before the 
amateur a sketch of this part of the subject 
of window gardening. 
We propose, however, to look inside, as well 
as outside of the window; for in this situation, 
too, plants may be very successfully grown: 
but here we are introduced to a new class of 
subjects, much more delicate in their nature; 
more interesting, too, in the minutiae of their 
structure and appearance, though perhaps not 
more beautiful or attractive in their forms and 
colours. 
The interior of living room:s is not in 
general well adapted for plants; — the fluc- 
tuating temperature, the confined and arid at- 
mosphere, the obstructed light, are all causes, 
which both severally and unitedly are pro- 
ductive of more or less of injury to the plants, 
according as they exist, either powerfully or 
in a more subdued degree. The excess of 
heat which sometimes prevails, acting in con- 
junction with the deficiency of fight, causes so 
much excitement in the vegetable frame, as to 
result in the long-legged, drawn-up specimens, 
which in-door plants frequently are. This 
evil is somewhat mitigated in its effects by 
the aridity of the atmosphere, which, in. it- 
self, tends rather to obstruct than to excite 
i 
