268 General J^otices. 



deuce of being written by Dr. Lindley. The scientific gardener it will 

 lead to very interesting and useful reflections: though to the mere prac- 

 tical man it will be, to use the concluding expression of the article, 

 " only a waste of words." " The names given to the garden buildings 

 employed for preserving plants in an artificial climate are applied with 

 so little precision, that it is almost a matter of indifference which to se- 

 lect for the purpose of explaining the principles that ought to be observ- 

 ed in the construction of such houses. We shall, therefore, reserve for 

 the article green-house what we have to say ujjon that head, and briefly 

 dismiss the others as their names occur. In illustration of this remark, 

 we may observe that the term conservatory, which, as its meaning 

 shows, Avas originally intended for buildings in which plants were pre- 

 served during winter, has come to be used, finally, for glass houses, in 

 which plants are cultivated by grooving them in the open border, and, 

 subsequently, for all such glazed buildings whatever. A conservatory, 

 properly so called, is a brick building heated by artificial means, having 

 its whole southern part inclosed by large glazed sashes, which may be 

 opened or shut at pleasure. Its flooi' is generally of straw, and a j)art 

 of it is occupied by a stage, on which plants in pots can be placed. One 

 of these buildings, but in a ruinous state, may be seen in the Physic Gar- 

 den, at Chelsea, [a specimen of this style may be seen at the Linnsean 

 Garden and Nurseries of the Messrs. Prince, at Flushing, L. I., and also 

 at one or two private residences in the vicinity of New York. — Cojid.'\ 

 others are not uncommon in gardens that were laid out forty or fifty 

 years ago; but they are fast falling into neglect or disuse, and, in our 

 opinion, deservedly. Such a conservatory w-as intended to preserve, 

 during the winter, orange trees, myrtles, American aloes, and similar 

 plants, which, during summer, will flourish in the open air, but which 

 require, in winter, to be protected against the inclemency, or, to speak 

 more exactly, against the cold and wet, of the English climate. Such 

 plants are torpid during winter; their rest begins Avith that of our trees; 

 and it is easy to prevent a renewal of their growth at too early a time. 

 To preserve against too much wet, and from severe cold, especially in 

 the spring, is all that is requisite for them; and these oljjects the old 

 conservatory answered perfectly well. It had, moreover, the advan- 

 tages of being spacious, without being excessively costly; of being easily 

 heated; and of requiring the smallest possible amount of labor for the 

 plants in it. Persons, however, gradually forgetting the original object 

 of the conservatory, added to it numerous species, requiring a very dif- 

 ferent treatment in winter from those it was contrived for; and, what 

 was far worse, they attempted, by humidity and hi^h temperature, to 

 keep the plants in a groviing state all the winter. The necessary con- 

 sequence of this was, that those plants which formerly succeeded in the 

 conservatory became unhealthy; the new comers disa|)pointed the ex- 

 pectations of their cultivators; and the building fell into discredit. The 

 reason of this is sufficiently obvious: plants, when in a growing state, 

 require an abundant supply of light. A conservatory is particularly 111 

 calculated, on account of its solid roof and sides, for the admission of 

 light; and, consequently, a conservatory is not suitable for jjlants in a 

 growing state. But plants, when tor])i(l, as in the winter season, require 

 a ver}' moderate supjdy of light, and this a conservatory is sufficiently 

 calculated to admit. 



" A house of this kind is best suited for gardens of considerable ex- 

 tent, where a large number of plants is re(]uircd, durinij the summer, for 

 the ornament of the flower garden and shrubbery. Under such circum- 

 stances, we strongly recommend the erection of conservatories, as the 

 cheapest, the most efficient, and the most ornamental mode of preserv- 

 ing in a healthy state, during winter, not only oranges, myrtles, and 



