38 WIA'DOW GARDHNINO 
thereby imitating nature, as she seldom washes her vegetation with the sud 
shining upon it. 
A pail of warm water can be brought into the parlor, and each plant thoroughly 
wetted in it, the surface of each leaf well moistened, without making any dis- 
turbance with the arrangement of the room. 
Plants perspire like human beings, only the amount is seventeen times as great, 
according to Mr. Hale's computation 
In the Hydrangea, the minute orifices in the space of an mch, are found to be 
one hundred thousand. 
Protection from Frost. 
During the winter our tender plants are liable to become frost-bitten in spite of 
every precaution we may take in their behalf. When the mercury out of doors 
settles to 25° and 30°, some little branches and leaves will droop, and the soil in 
some pots may become solid in doors. 
If this happens, all is not lost. Take the blighted plants tenderly, and dip 
them into cold water, not icy cold, but drawn from hydrant or cistern; then place 
them in complete darkness where not a ray of light can penetrate, and in three 
days at the utmost, you will find them fresh as ever, every leaf upright and 
green, while if they had been left in the light, every leaf would have fallen. Sev- 
eral times we have had this experience with our plants and have always revived 
tliem 
If the pots are set back at night from the windows on a piano or table, they 
will often escape freezing. 
If a window opens on to a piazza, the plants can be protected by pinning a 
thick comforter outside of the window, or tucking it into the blinds. 
Double windows are highly essential in a cold climate to keep off the intense 
cold, but they should always have an opening, a pane of glass with a hinge, or some 
means by which the room can be aired daily ; the weekly cleaning is not often 
enough to open the windows. 
Do not forget to shade them from too much light and heat in the early part of 
the evening. 
The great secret of success in wmdow gardening, consists in overcoming as 
much as possible the disadvantages under which the plants labor, and rendering 
their position and treatment as much as possible like those growing in the open 
air. 
Spring Culture of Window Gardens 
Maich is the first month that treads upon the flowery border of spring ; it 
is the beginning of the sunny season which shall awake the sleeping bulbs, 
plants, shrubs, and indeed all vegetation 
March, April, May and June, are very busy months, for in them we make 
large additions to our collections of/jlants by propagating new varieties, both by 
seeds and cuttings. 
