REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON ORNAMENTAL GARDENING. 228 



Two brick structures, mainly under ground, but well ventilated, 

 are prepared for tender and half-hardy plants in winter, and, 

 under an extensive carriage house, a third place, where a team may 

 enter, is provided for heavier shrubs and trees, where Azaleas and 

 Araucarias are stored. These depositories, late in the fall, pre- 

 sented a truly captivating sight ; the closely packed variegated 

 foliage of the Crotons and gold and silver Hollies, with the intense 

 polish of the leaves and buds of the Rhododendrons being very 

 pleasing. 



Not far from these, and beyond a screen of trees, stands the 

 Mansion house, a large square building, with a swelled front 

 entrance, on a slight parterre. It is not, like too many others, 

 crowded on to the very verge of the lake, but has space behind 

 for a set of formal flower beds, with intervening walks, around a 

 small fountain, where plants of brilliant bloom are annually 

 arranged. 



In front of the house, on the raised border, a fine display of 

 succulents and flowers in pots, from the greenhouse, attracts atten- 

 tion, while good sized agaves, yuccas, and palms and the pendent 

 vincas and humble sempervivums look for an approval. 



Connected with the mansion by a hall, on the right, is a lofty 

 Conservatory, about fifty feet in length, after the Ionic style, with 

 voluted columns, and immense, arched windows, each of a single 

 pane of glass. It is built on a raised granite foundation, with 

 running panels, and has at the end a semicircular portico, of the 

 same height and finish ; in the middle of which is a statue of 

 Flora, facing the aisle, with other marble ornaments ; providing 

 thus an elevated site for air or rest, with almost matchless scenery. 



The tessellated pavement of the interior is filled, on either side, 

 with the choicest stove and other plants in perfection ; presenting 

 the gorgeous spectacle of a tropical Eden. Here the dwarf Musa 

 superha and the aspiring Musa ensete, so admirable for conserva- 

 tory decoration, appear in all their glory, undisturbed by wind or 

 rain, the 31. ensete, only three years from the seed, having at. 

 tained the height of twenty-five feet, with leaves fourteen feet in 

 length and three in breadth, without a spot or blemish. Of all the 

 productions of nature this may be called the grandest ; and of all 

 specimens, known to us, this may be deemed the best. 



In front of the building, elegant vases of ornamental plants oc- 

 cupy prominent positions and stand upon the square .pedestals of 



