38 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[February y 



Green House and House Gardening. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Out-door gardening will not take on the 

 magnificence that once surrounded it, for many- 

 years to come. The great ambition of the 

 rich man of fifty years ago, was to have a 

 town house for winter, and to spend the summer 

 in a nice country place. It was extremely fash- 

 ionable to have a country seat. Without the 

 country seat, one was " nobody to speak of" in 

 the highest social circles. But with the intro- 

 duction of the railroad system, the mountain 

 and sea shore were brought within a reasonable 

 distance, and instead of the country seat, the 

 watering place, the tour to Colorado or to Eu- 

 rope is the chief ambition of the average man. 

 There are still a few country places left, but 

 they are not near as numerous in proportion to 

 population as they were even so recently as A. 

 J. DowniHg's time. The country places that 

 most abound now are simply suburban resi- 

 dences of an acre or two, convenient to railroad, 

 so that the head of the family can attend to daily 

 business in the city, and in which the family can 

 reside the year round. Of course there are ex- 

 ceptions, but this seems likely to be the general 

 rule for American life. 



But the love of gardening and of flowers will 

 increase, even in the more confined limits which 

 gardening finds itself subjected to, and it may be 

 a speculation as to what shape the new garden- 

 ing will take. For our part we believe that 

 during the next ten years there will be wonder- 

 ful growth in the taste for greenhouses and con- 

 servatories, and for having structures of various 

 kinds to hold or to grow flowers attached to 

 dwelling houses. We want to call the attention 

 of our garden architects to this probable ten- 

 dency in popular taste. At present when an 

 ordinary architect is desired to arrange for a 

 conservatory with the plan of a dwelling house, 

 he knows no more of what is required than that 

 celebrated fellow, the Man in the Moon. The 

 result is that plants roast, freeze, or are killed 

 by gases ; and the most unsightly part of the 

 dwelling is the conservatory. But there are 



ladies and gentlemen who have more success 

 with these places. Very often these are en- 

 tirely under their own management, as Avell as 

 of their own design, and it shows that it only 

 requires a little practical knowledge on the part 

 of designers to enable evei'y one cheaply to 

 enjoy plants as well as other domestic comforts. 

 And then we want more means in conserva- 

 tories for making room plants successful. To 

 many the fumes of illuminating gas make a 

 deadly enemy. Yet this can be in a great measure 

 obviated by plant cabinets. At the present time 

 the plants are set in the windows, and they may 

 get the gas or the frost on a cold night, and noth- 

 ing much can save them. But cabinets can be 

 made to hold the plants, and in this way they 

 are secure from gas ; and the case can be put on 



wheels, and moved away from the window on 

 very cold nights, after the family has retired. 



Irrespective of the interest connected with 

 plant culture, the little greenhouses or conser- 

 vatories may themselves be made architectually 

 beautiful and yet be well adapted to the growth 

 of plants. Annexed is a cross section of a very 

 pretty design for such an ornamental conserva- 

 tory, just suited to be in connection with a dwell- 

 ing house. 



Several ladies, the past year, have sent us 

 memorandums of their successes with room 

 plants, and plant attachments to their dwellings, 

 which were very welcome indeed. We trust 

 they will be continued, as it is in this direction 

 we look in the future for some of our most popu- 

 lar forms of gardening. 



