56 THE amateue's geeenhouse 



the stages and tables might be furnished. Happily, we are 

 rich in noble plants adapted for the purpose, and that require 

 for their preservation a winter temperature which exactly suits 

 the human constitution, so that, by prudent selection aud 

 good management, a conservatory may be made a place of 

 agreeable resort at every season of the year, and be especially 

 pleasant to afford a change of scene and occupation in the 

 winter season. It is, however, painfully common to meet with 

 grand conservatories that are utterly unfit for their intended 

 purpose, the work of architects and builders who were so un- 

 fortunate as to know nothing of plant growing. When we 

 are approaching a conservatory with a bold frontage of stone 

 pilasters and heavy cornice and recessed windows, in the style 

 of a Grecian temple, we are fully advertised of the appearance 

 the plants will present when we gain access to the interior. The 

 conservatories that architects unskilled in horticulture provide 

 for their employers usually have this distinguishing character, 

 that no plant will thrive in them, and very few will live in 

 them ; therefore, as conservatories are costly things, it will be 

 well for those who intend to pay for them, to take measures, 

 in good time, to secure suitable designs, and employ compe- 

 tent persons to carry them into effect. 



