HOUSE PLANTS. 
17 
That there is no want of love for such plants is evident from 
the places in which thev appear; but the kind and state of the 
plants very g nerally show that there is a great want of know¬ 
ledge, both in their selection and their management. In order 
to contribute a little to the supplying of this defect, we propose 
to offer a very brief compendium of what the French and Ger¬ 
mans call 44 Window Gardening and in order to render what 
we state as clear as possible, we shall divide it into several heads, 
or points. 
PLANTS PROPER FOR WINDOW CULTURE. 
As the situation of these plants is different from what they 
occupy in their natural state, it becomes necessary to select such 
as are capable of accommodating themselves to circumstances ; 
and as the unfavorable circumstances of house plants are chiefly 
want of free and pure air, and of light, and in those species which 
are accustomed to long seasons of repose in the winter, to uniform 
temperature, these circumstances must be kept in mind in the 
selection. Rooms, especially in crowded cities, are the most 
unnatural, and, on that account, the very worst situations in 
which plants can be placed ; and therefore, if healthy plants and 
an abundance of bloom are sought for, variety must be sacrificed. 
Plants which will continue healthy for a long time in the con¬ 
fined air of rooms, are generally those which have a peculiar 
surface, or texture in the foliage : such are many of the Aloes , 
Cactuses , Mesembryanthemums , among what are called succulent 
plants ; and, in a higher temperature, some of the curious Epi- 
phytce, or the natural order Orchidece. We recollect once seeing 
a very interesting collection of more than two hundred species, 
growing in a high state of perfection, in the house of an amateur 
of succulent plants, living in the Grand Sablon at Brussels. The 
