as sure to make
growth forlorn and sickly as too much neglect. That may be one reason
why one frequently sees such healthy looking plants framed in the dismal
window of a factory tenement, where the chinks can never be stopped
tight and the occupants find it hard enough to keep warm, while at the
same time it is easy to find leafless and lanky specimens in the
superheated and moistureless air of drawing-rooms.

It certainly is true that many modern houses of the better sort do not
offer very congenial conditions to the healthy growth of plants. It is
equally certain that in many cases these conditions may be changed by
different management in such way that they would be not only more
healthy for plants to live in, but so also for their human occupants. In
many other cases there is nothing but lack of information or energy in
the way of constructing a place entirely suitable for the growth of
plants. To illustrate what I mean, I mention the following instance of
how one person made a suitable place in which to grow flowers. Two
narrow storm windows, which had been discarded, were fastened at right
angles to the sides of the dining-room windows, and the regular storm
sash screwed on to these. Here were the three glass sides of a small
conservatory. Half-inch boards made a bottom and roof, the former being
supported by brackets to give strength, and the latter put on with two
slanting side pieces nailed to the top of the upright narrow sash spoken
of, to give the roof a pitch. Top and bottom were covered with old
flexible rubber matting which was carried back under the clapboards
making a weather-proof, tight joint with the side of the house. Six-inch
light wooden shelves on the inside gave a conservatory of considerable
capacity. How many houses there are where some such arrangement could be
made as the result of a few hours' work and thought, and a very small
expense. And yet how infrequently one sees anything of the kind. In many
instances such a glassed-in window would be all that is needed,
sufficient heat being furnished by a radiator under the window within
the house. In the case mentioned, however, it was necessary to heat the
small greenhouse. This was done by installing a small gas stove in the
cellar, as nearly as possible under the window greenhouse. Over this
stove a large tin hood was fitted, with a sliding door in front to
facilitate lighting and regulating the stove. From the hood a six-inch
pipe, enclosed