LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 309 



need not be an ugly feature in the place : a common tool- 

 house may be made picturesque. Connected with garden 

 architecture may be reckoned all the constructions for pre- 

 serving plants ; but as these are generally shut off from the 

 landscape, there is rarely anything but the conservatory that 

 forms a feature in the garden ; and here there is often too 

 much display, and that too without harmonizing with any- 

 thing, not even with the mansion. A pattern is chosen as a 

 man would select a pattern for his carriage, without the least 

 consideration of its fitness for the place it is to occupy. He 

 forgets that his conservatory is stationary, and that it does 

 not accord with his house ; and the builder of the one cares 

 very little how much it is too good for the place. We are no 

 great advocates for the frippery that is too often attached to 

 conservatories. Stained glass window^s are great drawbacks 

 to plants ; for it may fairly be said of flowers, in general, 

 that — 



'•' Beauty, when unadorned, '3 adorned the most." 



Whatever distracts the attention from the plants themselves 

 is detrimental to the general effect. Externally, the con- 

 servatory may be what anybody likes best, but internally 

 all should be plain and neat. Conservatories are generally 

 attached to the mansion, and we can hardly imagine a greater 

 luxury than to walk out of the house in the depth of winter 

 into one well furnished with blooming plants : we do not 

 mean a crowded jungle like that at Chiswick was and that at 

 Chatsworth is (unless it has been altered since the late duke 

 died). We cannot admire a jumble of plants with no interest 

 attached to them but their rarity, but one furnished with 

 attractive subjects to be admired for their beauty. A national 

 botanic garden must have in it much that is instructive with- 

 out being beautiful, but the conservatory of a mansion ought 

 to be the show-house, as it were, for all the beautiful objects 

 brought forward in the other houses, to be removed when 

 past their beauty to give place for others coming in ; and the 

 skill of the architect will be as much taxed for the finish of 

 the interior as for the elevation. 



Bridges. — In laying out a landscape garden, and providing 

 the necessary ornaments, few greater blunders are committed 

 than in the construction of bridges, for the architect must gene- 

 rally exhibit his taste in a costly modern, erection, where 



