PLANTING 
93 
many seedlings, especially if one likes to exchange, or to share 
with neighbors who have not been so forehanded. Here it is 
that an older person often has it in his power to turn, by a 
chance word, the current of thought of his young friends in 
one direction or another, by stimulating what is called idle 
curiosity so that it develops into a true scientific spirit. 
Much of the technic of planting can really be learned 
indoors ; the principles will then need to be applied on a 
larger scale to the conditions outside. Even the simplest 
window boxes call for well-prepared soil and for a knowledge 
of how to put in seeds and how to water them. In these the 
question of drainage is something of a puzzle. To arrange this 
indoors naturally requires special contrivances. It is usually 
secured by simply making a few holes in the bottom of the 
box’ or can. These holes are covered with flat stones, so that 
the%arth will not sift out, and the entire bottom is then 
spread with a layer of pebbles, earthenware fragments, and 
bits of charcoal before filling the box with earth. Cigar boxes, 
strawberry boxes, and the like will obligingly leak enough to 
drain properly. 
Growing under glass is a fascinating occupation. In these 
days some knowledge of the methods now employed is part 
of the equipment of every gardener. Within fifteen miles of 
Boston, 'for example, the enormous space of more than two 
million square feet of glass, or over forty acres, is devoted 
solely to vegetables. It pays at the not insignificant rate of 
fifty cents per year for every square foot. 
Culture under glass aims to copy nature at her best, so it 
will be arranged that the frame shall bask in full south sun- 
shine and be protected on its north side. The very simplest 
form of growing under glass is the cold frame. Just a single 
large pane fitted into the top of a box, which is to act as a 
temporary protection for a few plants, will do as a beginning. 
