14 PARKS AND PLEASURE-GROUNDS. 



the house, and properly connected with it, it is of admi- 

 rable convenience as a place of walking and of recreation 

 in all kinds of weather. If possible, it should be con- 

 tiguous to some one of the public rooms or the corridor ; 

 if the drawing-room can be made to open into it, or com- 

 municate with it by a short corridor, so much the better ; 

 but it is most desirable that it should be easily accessible 

 by the family without their leaving the house or doing 

 more, at most, than passing along a glazed passage or 

 veranda. When the conservatory enters into the original 

 arrangements, one or other of these expedients may 

 generally be practicable ; but if it is entirely an after- 

 thought, it sometimes happens that a suitable site for it 

 cannot be obtained. It has wants of its own. It 

 requires free air and open sunshine, and would be ren- 

 dered useless were it shaded by the house. It obviously 

 cannot stand on the northern side of the mansion ; and if 

 the di^amng-room has a central position in that direction, 

 it is e\'ident that no immediate connection can be esta- 

 blished between them. There is nothing, however, in 

 itself to prevent it from occupying such a site on any of 

 the other three sides as will harmonize with the other 

 buildings of the house, or will suit the internal arrange- 

 ments and communications. In general, it is easier to 

 make a good adaptation and adjustment in houses of 

 moderate extent, than in very large ones. The conser- 

 vatory, when entered from the house, should be consi- 

 dered as a glazed drawing-room, fitted, by its abundance 

 of light, and its command of warmth, for the growth of 

 fine exotic plants. Its internal arrangements should be 

 simple, its passages of ample width, and its whole ap- 

 pliances should be such as to permit a free exhibition of 

 the plants without their admirers crushing upon them or 



