ow-box
talk.

"The most satisfactory way to grow plants in the schoolroom and in many
cases, at home, is in the window box. The window box means the
possibility of easily caring for a number of plants in a small space.
Plants in pots take much more space than the same number of plants in a
window box.

"It is the cleanest way, too. You are all familiar with the sight of a
pot covered with crepe paper stained and discoloured from water spilt
upon it and moisture given off from the porous pot.

"The window box, if properly watered, need never leak. Its freshly
painted sides need never be covered with any material. It stands for
just what it is--a well-made, well-painted wooden box.

"It is quite impossible to give dimensions for the construction of the
window box, since it must fit the space one wishes to use. It is wise to
keep in mind this--that these boxes when filled with soil are very, very
heavy and awkward to handle. So if your window is large, why not have
two small boxes for the space rather than one large one? When these are
placed end to end the effect is of one long box. The ordinary house
window may well have the single box.

"Other things to keep in mind for the constructing of the box are depth,
drainage, holes, joints and paint.

"Just as bulb boxes need no great depth, so with window boxes. If the
depth be great the plants spend too much energy in root growth. A
shallow box means, if properly filled, a compact root mass. So if your
box is to be, say three and a half feet long make it not more than ten
inches deep.

"As we make drainage holes in the bottom of the bulb box, so we do in
the window box. Many people make window boxes without drainage holes. It
seems rather better to have them since they offer exit for surplus
water, and places for the roots to get at the air. These holes may be
bored six inches apart down through the centre of the box; or they may
be bored in two lines, thus doubling the number of holes and the amount
of air space. Take this rule, for every square foot of space have four
drainage holes.

"A box filled with soil all winter constantly in a state of moisture is
quite likely to spring or spread apart at the joints. The better fitted
the joints the better the box, and the better it stands the inside
pressure and moisture continually brought to bear upon it.

"As to paint, of course the box must have one coat (perhaps two) on the
outside. A dark green is all around the b