WINDOW GARDENING 
10] 
ig. n. 
those for sale by any 
Usually only ordinary taste is re- 
quisite to contrive some very agree- 
able designs, and only a few hours' 
labor are needed. So wo will give 
suggestions of how to make some 
Horae-Made Hanging Baskets of 
handy and inexpensive materials. 
For trimming the outside of some 
wooden bowl the roots of the laurel 
are very suitable, also those of the 
briar rose, which grows so plenti- 
fully near the woodlands and in fence /vi^ 
corners. They are very crooked ^^ 
and gnarled, but when thoroughly 
cleansed from soil they can be nailed 
upon these bowls in grotesque and 
picturesque forms. A coat of copal 
varnish laid over the whole will often 
make the basket possess as handsome an appearance aj 
liorist. 
The boughs and roots of the wild grape vine supply materials for this style of 
rustic ornamentation. Do not remove the bark unless it is very ragged, and 
then tear it away carefully, not taking more than is needful. By peeling in 
this way the stem will be vari-colored. If a darker hue than the natural wood 
IS preferred, take two ounces of gum asphaltum and dissolve it in half a pint 
of turpentine or coal oil. Apply the stain with a common j)aint bru.sh, putting 
on two coats if it is not dark enough at first. 
A simple rustic basket may be made of three forked branches of any old 
tree, the more thickly bestudded with little branchlets, and the more gnarled 
and mossy, the better. Get those with drooping gray beard moss, if possible. 
The .sticks should be less than an inch in diameter, and .six or eight inches in 
length. Unite the three forks by their heads, winding them with very strong 
twine or pliable wire, and then, with the same material, fasten the branchlets 
here and there, to form a sort of lattice-work, and wind the gray moss over all 
fastenings. Then, in the same way, attach stout cord for handles. Set in this 
a common clay pot with its saucer, crowding around it plenty of moss, and you 
have a pretty thing complete. 
Some persons take the common wire baskets, and make an improvement by 
surrounding them with strips of pasteboard. This is completely covered by 
pasting or glueing upon it gray or green lichens, with a few bits of the creep- 
ing moss, and a little of the coral or red cup moss. If none of this last can be 
procured, heat red sealing-wax, and with it touch the rough edges of some of 
the lichens. 
Wire baskets are in general better suited for the conservatory than the par 
