Embellishments 137 



conservatory or greenhouse is of moderate size, and intended 

 solely for private recreation, we would in every case, when 

 such a thing is not impossible, have it attached to the house; 

 communicating by a glass door with the drawing-room, or 

 one of the living rooms. Nothing can be more gratifying 

 than a vista in winter through a glass door down the walk 

 of a conservatory, bordered and overhung with the fine 

 forms of tropical vegetation, golden oranges glowing through 

 the dark green foliage, and gay corollas lighting up the 

 branches of Camellias and other floral favorites. Let us 

 add the exulting song of a few Canaries, and the enchant- 

 ment is complete. How much more refined and elevated 

 is the taste which prefers such accessories to a dwelling, 

 rather than costly furniture, or an extravagant display of 

 plate! 



The best and most economical form for a conservatory 

 is a parallelogram - - the deviation from a square being 

 greater or less according to circumstances. When it is 

 joined to the dwelling by one of its sides (in the case of 

 the parallelogram form), the roof need only slope in one 

 way, that is from the house. When one of the ends of the 

 conservatory joins the dwelling, the roof should slope both 

 ways from the center. The advantage of the junction in 

 the former case, is, that less outer surface of the conserva- 

 tory being exposed to the cold, viz. only a side and two 

 ends, less fuel will be required; the advantage in the latter 

 case is, that the main walk leading down the conservatory 

 will be exactly in the line of the vista from the drawing- 

 room of the dwelling. 



It is, we hope, almost unnecessary to state, that the roof 

 of a conservatory, or indeed any other house where plants 

 are to be well-grown, must be glazed. Opaque roofs prevent 

 the admission of perpendicular light, without which the 

 stems of vegetation are drawn up weak and feeble, and are 

 attracted in an unsightly manner towards the glass in front. 

 When the conservatory joins the house by one of its ends, 

 and extends out from the building to a considerable length, 

 the effect will be much more elegant; and the plants will 



