12 THE UNHEATED GREENHOUSE 



THE CONSERVATORY 



There are two forms of glass-house common to the gardens 

 of most country homes : the conservatory, which adjoins the 

 dwelling, and into which one or more of the sitting-rooms 

 generally open ; and the greenhouse, which finds its separate 

 place, with more or less aptitude for its purpose, in the garden. 

 Now, " conservatory " is a pretentious name, and it might be 

 wished that one more modest could be coined to replace it ; 

 but it would seem as if few folk were alive to the fact that 

 conservatory and greenhouse are not convertible terms. Yet 

 the difference between them is plain and well marked a 

 conservatory being a shelter where plants in flower may be 

 shown and admired, while the greenhouse is the home and, at 

 times, the hospital of plants in growth. Where only one of 

 these exists, doubtless there must be some adaptation to 

 circumstances ; but it can scarcely be too much insisted on that 

 the conservatory is not intended to be turned into a working 

 greenhouse, as is too often done. If it must be, then I venture 

 to urge that it is better to draw a curtain between sitting-room 

 and the inevitable dishevelment of the garden workshop, and 

 to let a cheerful bay-window, a glass porch, or any other 

 convenient position receive the plants we have cherished, when 

 they are ready to be displayed in their beauty. The con- 

 servatory, being, in fact, an ante-chamber or vestibule to the 

 living-rooms of the house, should be, equally with these, always 

 in good order. One of the first considerations, therefore, is to 

 keep it clean. 



This very trite assertion may provoke a jeer, but only 

 those who have held the reins of management in their own 

 hands can have any idea of the way in which debris of withered 

 leaves and fallen flowers accumulate, to say nothing of evil 

 pests in the shape of slugs and caterpillars, woodlice and 

 centipedes, which stray in and hide under stages and in odd 



