The hearthstone; or, Life at home

Ferneries are often successfully planted in windows with a southern exposure, and, if there is a suitable window of the ordinary kind, this is easily accomplished. The one requisite for ferns is shade, and hence they are not really so handsome for bay-windows as are blossoming plants. They are better as square-window decorations, and when they are properly arranged the effect is charming. A pretty window conservatory can be made at a comparatively inexpensive cost by having a double sash united to the window casing with glass sides. This sash is best made in one piece, and the proper ventilation can be secured through a movable pane. If the conservatory is to be put in a room where there are three windows, the centre one will generally serve the purpose. The frame can be either square or oval, and the glass should be of the clearest quality, and as thick as possible. The top may be of wood or glass, the eaves of the house protecting it sufficiently in either case. If the space is narrow, only vines, such as the Madeira or cypress, should be planted in the enclosure, and these should be placed in a box made to fit perfectly. It is best to consult a florist in the arrangement and selection of plants for such conservatories, and only such flowers should be chosen as will be most handy. Sometimes the outside sash is made to serve the one purpose, and the inside one is removed. This is a prettier mode of arranging the window, and the effect within is far better. A competent carpenter can arrange these conservatories, and for winter gardening they are thoroughly satisfactory and practical. For summer, the outside shutters necessitate the removal of flowers from the window ; but where an awning is used in place of shutters, low stands can be arranged in the windows. The handsomest windows seen in the cities are those which have the awnings and the flowers, and one thus arranged cannot be improved upon. Brackets on the sides of windows, holding plants, add greatly to the beauty of a home. All windows should have an upper and lower pane of glass that can be turned on a pivot, in order to ventilate the room ; and those who have ever enjoyed the advantages of an arrangement of this kind would scarcely try to put up with the old and disagreeable mode of opening the entire window every time a supply of fresh air was desired. The glass is framed in half the woodwork of the ordinary frame, and it either turns on a pivot or is hung on hinges. Either way answers the purpose, which is to give ventilation in winter without opening the entire window, and exposing occupants to strong draughts of air. An exquisite transparency for windows may be made by arranging pressed ferns, grasses, and autumn leaves on a pane of window glass, laying another pane of the same size over it, and binding the edge with ribbon, leaving the group imprisoned between. Use gum tragacanth in putting on the binding. It is well to secure a narrow* strip of paper under the ribbon. The binding should be gummed all around the edge of the first pane, and dried before the leaves, ferns, etc., are arranged ; then it can be neatly folded over the second pane without difficulty. To form the loop for hanging the transparency, [illustration: page number 50]