Making window boxes. — Schools equipped for woodworking will find the 
window box an excellent handicraft exercise. Although the box should be 
made to fit the window, the following dimensions are desirable: Length, 36 
inches; width, 8 inches; depth, 8 inches. Tamarack, cedar, redwood, or some 
such material that will stand contact with moist soil should be used. The 
bottom should be raised 1 inch at each end and perforated with a number 
of half-inch holes for drainage. The boxes may be planted for ornamental 
purposes, but some of them should be used for growing material which the 
class may have before it in a study of the development of various kinds of 
plants. The boxes may be used also in forcing bulbs and other plants for 
outdoor planting. 
Wherever the shop work is given under other management, such handicraft 
work should be cooperative. In one county high school a class in mechanic 
arts supplied each of the rural schools of the county with a window box which 
served as a model for the younger students. 
Potting plants. — For potting plants the following equipment and material 
is needed: A workbench, suitable soil, a coarse soil sieve, a sprinkling can, 
a shovel, material for drainage, pots, and plants. The soil should be rich in 
plant food and should contain sufficient sand and organic matter to prevent 
any tendency for it to harden or bake upon drying. When moist, it should 
fall apart readily when squeezed in the hand. Equal parts of a good loam, 
clean sand, and well-rotted manure or compost, all worked through a coarse 
sieve, will prove suitable for ordinary work. The following may be considered 
essentials of good potting: (a) The soil should be moderately moist through- 
out; (b) the pots should be clean and soaked in water before using; (c) 
the pots should be of a size suited to the plant; (d) pots 4 inches 
in diameter and larger should be filled one-fourth full of pieces of broken pots 
to provide for drainage; (e) the plants should be placed at the proper depth 
and in the center of the pot; (/) the soil should be filled about the roots 
carefully by hand and then made compact by pressure with the thumbs; (g) 
the plants should be watered thoroughly after potting and then placed away 
from direct light for a day or two until they are established. If the soil 
has been properly compacted about the roots, it will be possible to remove the 
pot by turning it upside down and giving the edge a slight jar, the soil 
remaining compact. As the plants grow so that their roots fill the pots, they 
should be shifted to larger pots if they are intended for inside use. Practice 
in shifting may be given along with potting if there are pot-bound plants on 
hand. 
A study of flower seeds. — Students in floriculture should become familiar 
with common flower seeds. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to 
have each student collect and mount seeds of a given number of plants. 
Directions for this work may be obtained in Farmers' Bulletin 586, Collection 
and Preservation of Plant Material for Use in the Study of Agriculture. 
Along with this study of seeds practice should be given in testing seeds for 
impurities and for viability according to directions in Farmers' Bulletin 428, 
Testing Farm Seeds in the Home and in the Rural School. 
A study of bulbs. — If bulbs are considered, students should become familiar 
with the common bulbs and their method of production and growth. Good use 
may be made of the window boxes and small beds outside in planting bulbs and 
observing their development. Each planting should be labeled and a record 
kept to show time and depth of planting. 
Cultural practice. — The amount and nature of such practice will depend 
upon the home gardens and near-by gardens available for the work of students. 
It may be possible to make arrangements for the class to work as a whole 
