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GOSSIP ABOUT WINDOW GARDENING. 
I have some hints on window gardening which will 
probably prove of some value to those that are always 
trying to find out different ways of growing and ar¬ 
ranging flowers. First, procure a wooden box, quite 
shallow, and about twelve inches long and eight inches 
wide, and if convenient line it through the inside with 
zinc, and punch about four holes in the bottom of the 
box for drainage. Then proceed as follows : Fill the 
box with rich dirt—I think what is called chip dirt is 
very good, as I have used it for growing plants and 
they seemed to thrive splendidly—then mix with this 
chip dirt some leaf mould, if it can he procured, and if 
not, just a little sand and dirt will do; now you have 
your box ready to plant your flowers; so you may 
choose just what flowers you like. 1 have a box in 
which is planted Coleus, Ivy, Verbenas, Portulaca, 
Wandering Jew, and thus they form a miniature win¬ 
dow garden. I think that if one would plant in a box 
a row of Hyacinths, a row of Tulips and a row of 
Crocuses, and have them all bloom at the same time, 
it would be a beautiful sight, and in winter who would 
not, enjoy them ? I think it is so cheerful to see flow¬ 
ers in winter—even green leaves are pretty in winter. 
I would advise every one to grow the 
Green Wandering Jew, and keep it 
through the winter, as it is quite easily 
kept; if watered occasionally with am¬ 
monia water it will keep green and 
grow luxuriantly through the winter. 
We have some growing in a hanging 
basket that has grown to the length of 
six feet and nine inches, and every one 
that sees it admires it; it is the longest 
one 1 have ever seen. When you have 
your box all filled with plants you can 
ornament it on the outside by covering 
it with rough bark, which can be pro¬ 
cured by taking a walk in the country 
around the woods, and then when it is 
covered, varnish it with Damar varnish 
and it will be quite pretty. Another 
pretty ornament is to take a bowl of 
water and put in it two sweet potatoes, and in several 
weeks they will sprout and throw out their green 
leaves, and it will be a beautiful vine, and can be 
trained in any manner which the taste of the person 
may desire. 
And still another beautiful window ornament is 
to have a Wardian case filled with Calla Lilies and 
Water Lilies and Lycopodium. A good way to make 
a Wardian case is to procure a common table and 
then to take off the top and turn it up (the wrong side 
up) and line it with zinc; then get four window sashes, 
one for each side and one for each end, and also one 
for the top, and it makes a very cheap ward case; and 
as ward cases are very expensive this will not exceed, 
I do not think, more than five dollars, if it does that 
much; and you cannot get one all ready made for less 
than twenty-five or thirty dollars; so I think this in¬ 
formation will be prized very highly. Another orna¬ 
ment is to get a large white sponge and plant in it 
wheat, grass, flaxseed or rice, and place it in a saucer 
or plate filled with water and immerse it daily, and in 
a week or two it will become green, and then it can 
be suspended in a window with a picture or common 
cord run through it. 
Lelia S. Campbell. 
the stove. It must not be kept very close or it will 
kill the seed. I sprinkled them every day to keep the 
ground moist, and in three weeks they began to come 
up. They all had the seed sticking to them, making 
them look like little sky-rockets. When the seed be¬ 
gan to come up I took my box and set it by the win¬ 
dow in the sun, and soon the little leaves began to 
grow, and I had as fine plants as I would wish to see. 
Every few days I would turn the box so as to keep 
them from growing crooked. If they are very thick 
some of the biggest plants can be transplanted in small 
pots. About the middle of May I planted them out in 
the beds, setting them about two feet apart. I had 
the soil made rich, and in a little while 
they covered the whole bed. I planted near 
one hundred plants that spring, and never 
would wish for better success than I had that 
summer. We had almost every shade and 
color that there is of Verbenas, and more 
than half of them were sweet-scented ones. 
No one, until they have tried it, can realize 
the pleasure it gives in watching them and 
seeing some new color or shade opening 
every day, and wondering what the next 
one that opens will be ; for when Mm buy 
them M'e know just what colors they are, 
therefore there is no surprise awaiting us, 
as there is every day if we have a bed of 
seedlings. Verbenas! The more flowers 
you cut from them the more they bloom ! 
Every spring since this time I have raised 
my Verbenas in this same way, and have 
had a» many as I have wanted, and have 
given a great many to my friends. At one 
time they n r ere one of the commonest fknv- 
ers n r e had, for M’e had so many of them. 
1 would not think of buying them as long 
as I can raise them from seed. Perhaps 
every one will not think as I do, as every 
one does not think alike; but I think if 
they try it once and succeed as M’ell as I did 
they M’ill think as I do about it. 
M. M. 
Pretended Flower Lovers. — Frequent¬ 
ly lady friends M T ill call to see me who M’ill 
declare themselves passionately fond of 
flowers—go into ecstacies over a Rose, a 
Lily or a Hyacinthe, and M’ish they had 
floM r ers like them; but let me be engaged in 
forming a club for such, or bulbs, and ask 
them to join me, then comes the cry of 
want of time to attend them, scarcity of 
money, ignorance as to their culture, all of 
which are trifling excuses, M ! hen, at the 
same time, they are keeping pace with 
extravagant fashions and reading all the 
light literature of the day. If I give them 
plants they stick them in the ground, where they M’ill 
die for M’ant of M’ater or proper care, or perhaps a hen 
and chickens take up their quarters in their midst. 
To such I shall deal sparingly, but to the true lover I 
am willing to divide. I am a genuine admirer of 
Flora’s offerings. I have a relish for them stronger 
than the inebriate for his bowl. What are the delights 
a new bonnet affords compared to a bed of beautiful 
flou'ers? Why, if I should have to economize in 
dress to gratify my love for flowers I would wear a 
bonnet out of date forever. 
Ah! my idols, 
“ You are the brightest things which earth 
On her broad bosom loves to cherish.” 
M. A. Line. 
VERBENA; OR, HOW I RAISE THEM FROM 
SEED. 
There is no plant that repays one so M'ell, or gives 
greater satisfaction for very little care, as the Verbena. 
Only plant them in a rich soil in a sunny spot and 
they M'ill repay you, from the beginning of summer 
until killed by the frost, u’ith a greater wealth of 
bloom than almost any other plant one can cultivate ; 
and, as they are one of my favorite flowers, I want to ; 
speak a few M’ords of praise for them, ami give some • 
hints about hoM 7 to raise them from the seed. Some \ 
few years ago M’e used to buy our Verbenas from the 
greenhouses, as we never succeeded in keeping more i 
A Spray of Roses. 
“ Cull we straight the inviting Kose, 
Shielded by the thorn it grows: 
Cull the rose! what boots the smart! 
Countless sweets regale the heart.” 
than four or five through the M'inter; and as they 
were never very healthy-looking plants it would take 
them a long Mdiile to get groM'th enough to bloom 
worth anything. I gathered the seed of some five or 
six different colors, marked them and put. them away, 
and the middle of February I took a box about one 
foot deep and about tu’o feet long to plant my seeds 
in; first I had it taken to the horse stable and had 
the bottom covered M'ith manure, then I filled it up 
with fine, rich dirt that I had saved to plant seeds iu; 
then I planted my seed quite thick and set it behind 
