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The surfaces upon which the plants rest are tiled here, so that whether boxes or pots are employed, 
water from them does no harm 
that is urged against them, that the plants cannot be turned around 
as they can when placed in individual pots, does not necessarily 
hold good, for it is a simple matter to make boxes that can be 
turned end for end, when it is deemed that this will prove a desira¬ 
ble thing. The details of the construction and supports of such 
a box are suggested in the accompanying cut. 
Another argument against window boxes is that during the 
part of the year they are not in use, they are ugly and in the way. 
As a matter of fact there is no reason why they should be empty 
at any season of the year, if one will 
take the small trouble to ascertain what 
plants are suitable for use in them at 
different periods of the year. The 
window box, where it is used at all, 
should be kept perpetually occupied. 
But where for any reason this is not 
practicable, the detachable box may be 
taken down and stored away, or moved 
to some other place and used there 
until again wanted in its original posi¬ 
tion. This all-the-year-round service 
for the window box is an idea that one 
seldom sees made use of, and it is the 
purpose of this article to show the pos¬ 
sibilities there are in this direction and 
give information concerning the details 
of construction, plants, soil, etc., for 
carrying them out in a way adapted to 
the requirements of the individual 
home. 
The first things to be considered are 
the various types of window boxes and 
the adaptations possible in their use. 
The kind which one most frequently 
sees is simply a deep, narrow box often 
with no means of drainage or ventila¬ 
tion. It is made by a carpenter know¬ 
ing nothing of the requirements of 
plant growth and fastened securely against the window sill, 
either inside or out, but generally the latter. The simplest plant 
box should be provided with ample means of drainage, and should 
never be fastened close against the sill or below it because water 
or even moisture gathering in this joint has no way of drying 
out, and in a short time will decay the wood, and also because 
a free circulation of air, so essential to healthy plant growth, is 
prevented. If the box is a plain one, just four sides and a bot¬ 
tom, the latter should at least contain several good sized holes, 
say jkj to i inch in diameter, and be filled in sucb a way that free 
drainage is allowed by providing some rough material like broken 
charcoal or brick, or sifted coal-ashes, to place in the bottom be¬ 
fore the plant soil is put in. 
It is little more work to construct the box so that poor drainage 
and the disagreeable dripping of mud water after planting, will 
both be impossible. This is achieved by the simple expedient of 
putting in a false bottom, which may be done in any of several 
A good use of window boxes above an entrance doorway. The boxes 
can, of course, be removed when desired 
The contrast between the red of geraniums and the white Marguerites 
is at once simple and effective 
( 376 ) 
