AND CONSEUV^ATOUY. 53 



Between the conservatory and the greenhouse there is about 

 the same difference as between a dinner and a luncheon. It 

 is impossible to draw a hard-and-fast line between them, and 

 yet they differ in plan and purpose very decidedly, The green- 

 house is intended principally for production, and is more or 

 less of a storehouse. The conservatory is intended for enjoy- 

 ment and display. Some very humble and, in some cases, use- 

 less glass structures are styled " conservatories," but the term 

 applies properly to an edifice of sufficient size to accommodate 

 camellias and orange trees, and the free movement of full- 

 grown persons attired in a manner which would render it in- 

 convenient for them to come in contact with damp flower-pots. 

 A conservatory should be more or less of a garden under 

 glass, and adapted for frequent resort and agreeable assem- 

 blage at all seasons, and especially at times of festivity. 

 Hence, in designing a structure of this class, we must not ad- 

 here strictly to the advice given in the first chapter of this 

 work, but endeavour to combine elegance, head room, and 

 airiness, with conditions suitable for plant life. It must be con- 

 fessed that the low roofs, which sviit the majority of plants so 

 well, are undignified, and therefore we must abandon that rule 

 in the case of a conservatory. But in doing so, it will be well 

 to bear in mind that not one of our plants will alter its nature 

 to suit our fancies and fashions, and therefore there must be 

 a limit to every extension of the primitive idea of a plant- 

 house, for above all things we are bound to secure for the 

 vegetation the house is to shelter conditions favorable to its 

 prosperity. Now, the apparent difficulty may be disposed of 

 by remembering that abundance of light and a constantly 

 moving atmosphere are the two chief requisites to be provided 

 for in the construction of a plant-house, no matter whether we 

 call it a stove, a greenhouse, or a conservatory. Darkness, 

 stagnant air, and keen draughts, are the principal enemies of 

 plants that are shut up in houses, and it is compatible with 

 the highest elegance of design, and the most artistic finish of 

 detail, to ensure the best possible protection for them against 

 these destructive agencies. As we must have aerial as well as 

 lateral space in a conservatory, so, to make the contents 

 worthy of the edifice, we must employ plants of large growth, 

 and a certain number of them should aspire towards the roof, 

 to carry the eye upward and fill the space above that would, 

 if unoccupied," make an unpleasant impression, however richly 



